


Just a Window Into Their Love

by GrandDukeForever



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Incest, M/M, Meta, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 22:04:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 31,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrandDukeForever/pseuds/GrandDukeForever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A reader of mine requested the following prompt in a comment on one of my earlier fics: “I would like more and more domesticity between these two brothers (cooking, training, shopping together what else), I can't enough of their synergy and they are so cute together, taking care of each other without the angst pretty please in an AU should be perfect ! ;)”</p><p>This is my response, in 30-Day OTP Challenge format, and just as a heads-up, it’s going to be drabbley, and some chapters may have a little crack in them, lol.  Also, just a warning, but since the chapters are drabbley in nature, they’re also not exactly in chronological order.  So expect a lot of time-jumping.  </p><p>Yes, I know, the tendency is that a lot authors don’t end up finishing these, but I am determined to see this through to the end!  Wish me luck though...I’ve never written a fic this long in my life!  Feedback is much appreciated, as always!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Holding Hands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hardyness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hardyness/gifts).



> OP said AU would be perfect, so AU it is. Any mention of Jaegers and Kaiju is just meant to be a friendly nod to this story's movie roots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [Alre_Snow](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Alre_Snow), who translated this chapter in Russian, [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1368247).

It’s a blistering cold Sunday, and ten-year-old Raleigh’s forgotten his gloves.  He shoves his hands into his pockets and doesn’t ask his brother for the pair that he’s wearing.  He knows his older brother would give them to him if he asked, but he doesn’t want Yancy’s hands to get cold either.

_“Besides,”_ Raleigh thinks.   _“Eventually, they’ll get so cold I won’t really feel ‘em anymore.”_

Yancy is walking alongside him and happily chattering away about all the things Raleigh has to look forward to next year, when he starts middle school.  He’s doing this because Raleigh had told him earlier that he wishes he could just skip to high school, so that he could be with Yancy again like they were when they were both elementary school kids.

“...and you’ll make a ton of friends in the meantime.  It’ll be a lot of fun, Rals, I promise!” Yancy says, grinning over at his brother.  “Don’t worry, before you know it, you’ll be in high school with me!”

Raleigh frowns and buries his face into his scarf.  “Yeah...but then you’ll be a _senior_.”

“We’ll catch up again in college!”

“Aw...but that’s _so long!_ ” Raleigh whines.

Yancy chuckles.  “Yeah, I guess it is, huh?”

Yancy frowns when he notices Raleigh shiver.  He tilts his head.

“Hey...you okay there, buddy?  You cold?”

“Mm...not really,” Raleigh lies.

“You’ve got your hands in your pockets though…” says Yancy.  “Are your gloves too thin?”

Raleigh mumbles a reply.  Yancy bends down a little in an attempt to hear.

“What?  What’d you say, Rals?”

Raleigh sighs and then brings his lips a little above his scarf.  “I _said_...m’not wearin’ any gloves.”

Yancy frowns.  “What?  Why not?”

“Forgot ‘em.”

“Aw, Raleigh!  Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Yancy asks, stopping.  “Here, let me give you mine.”

“No!” Raleigh protests.  “Then _you’ll_ be cold!”

“Relax, kid!  I’ll be fine,” Yancy says with a smile.  “We’re only a few blocks away from our house anyhow.”

“No, Yancy, I don’t wanna.”

Yancy chuckles.  “Stop being so stubborn, Rals.”

“I don’t want you to be cold too,” Raleigh insists.  “It’s okay.  I don’t really feel my hands anymore, anyway.”

“See?  That’s a problem,” Yancy says with a sigh.  “Here, tell you what, kid…give me your left hand.”

“Huh?  Why?” Raleigh asks.

Yancy laughs.  “Just give it to me, come on!”

“Uh...all right,” Raleigh says as he takes his left hand out of his pocket.

Yancy takes the glove off his left hand and puts it overtop Raleigh’s.  A frown forms on the younger boy's face.

“Hey!”

“Didn’t see that one coming, now did you?” Yancy asks, grinning.  “Now give me your right.”

“No, I’m not falling for that again!” says Raleigh.

Yancy shakes his head and chuckles.  “Don’t worry, I won’t put my other glove on it.”

His younger brother eyes him suspiciously.  “...you won’t?”

“Nope!  I won’t” Yancy says, holding up his hands to show that he isn’t crossing his fingers.  “I promise!”

“Hm... _okay_ …” Raleigh says with hesitance as he holds out his right hand.  

Yancy surprises Raleigh by taking the younger boy’s hand, entwining their fingers together before placing both of them into his left pocket.  Yancy smiles down at him.

“See?  This way, both our hands should be pretty warm, right?” Yancy asks.  “Got a problem with this, kid?”

Raleigh blushes and buries his face into his scarf again as he mumbles.  “No...I guess not.”

Yancy grins widely.  “What was that, Rals?”

Raleigh’s face flushes more and he speaks up louder.  “This is fine, Yancy.”

“Good, I thought it would be,” Yancy says triumphantly.  “Now come on.  Let’s hurry home.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Even though they are now power-walking back to their house for his benefit, suddenly Raleigh finds himself wishing that they were a little further away from home, just so he could feel the warmth of his brother’s hand around his for a little bit longer.  Raleigh isn’t looking up at Yancy, so he misses the small smile that forms on his older brother’s face when Raleigh squeezes his hand around his brother's just a little bit tighter.  
  
Raleigh’s face grows more red when he thinks he feels his brother gently squeeze his hand back.  It's hard for him to tell whether or not he's imagining things.  Later, when they’d make it into their house and Yancy would tease him about his color, Raleigh would immediately place the blame on the cold weather outside.


	2. Cuddling Somewhere

It’s a cold winter day and the brothers are snowed into their house.  Their mother died a few years ago and shortly after, their father left them behind, so now it’s just the two of them.

Raleigh shivers in front of the lit fireplace in their living room, sitting on a pillow and wrapped in a blanket.  He smiles up at his brother when he feels Yancy come up behind him, holding two mugs filled with hot chocolate.  He gratefully accepts one when Yancy hands it to him and takes a sip.

“Thanks, Yance.”

“Anytime, kid,” Yancy says as he takes a seat beside his brother.  

Raleigh tilts his head.  “Aren’t you cold, Yance?”

His older brother shrugs and takes a sip from his mug.  “Eh, it’s alright.  I’ve got this hot chocolate and I’m in front of a fire—I’ll be all right in a minute.”

Raleigh frowns.  “So you _are_ cold.”

Yancy shrugs again.  “Yeah, a little.  I guess so.”

“Here, let me help you with that,” Raleigh says as he pulls the blanket from his shoulders and wraps it around his brother.

Now it’s his brother’s turn to frown.  “Now aren’t _you_ going to be cold, kid?”

“Nah,” Raleigh says, smiling as he sets his mug down a safe distance before shifting in his position.

He guides Yancy’s arm to set his mug down and then places his hands on his brother’s legs, gently pushing them apart before crawling in between them.  He then wraps the blanket around them both before reaching for his mug of hot chocolate and smiling up at Yancy.

“You don’t mind, right, Yance?”

Yancy chuckles.  He wraps one hand around his waist, pulling his brother’s body closer to his, and then reaches for his own mug.  He smiles when Raleigh settles his back against the older man’s chest and Yancy presses a kiss into his younger brother’s head as he murmurs.  
  
“Yeah.  This should work just fine.”


	3. Gaming/Watching a Movie

Sometimes, the boys get competitive.  When appropriate, they’ll play a racing game on their video game console to determine which one of their bright ideas they’re going to be doing, if they can’t come to some kind of civil agreement.  In this particular instance, they had been arguing over which flick they’d be watching for their once-a-week “movie night.”  Yancy wants to watch something called _Return of the Kaiju: Hong Kong_ , because he’s heard from his friends that not only is the movie totally awesome, it features incredible acting and is jam-packed with glorious action scenes.  Raleigh, on the other hand, would rather they watch _Together in Australia_ , because seriously, it’s got these two hot Australian actors in it who are involved in an illicit love affair that pretty much parallels what he and Yancy have together and _come on_ —it’s going to be _so romantic_.  

Now normally, Yancy is all for watching schmoopy love stories with Raleigh on their movie nights, if it’ll make his precious little brother happy, but _Return of the Kaiju_ is supposed to be _a hundred times better_ than the original, _Rise of the Kaiju_ was back when that first came out in 2013.  Of course, they could have just totally agreed to watch _both_ of the movies that night and solved the problem, but no, it was the principle of the matter.  Which is why they decided to dust off their Combat Jaeger 3000 and pop in _PPDC Ranger Racing_ , their go-to racing game solution for just about every argument they’ve ever had.  It’s old, but it’s a classic.  At the moment, Yancy has the upper hand.

“ _Oh my God_ …!  What the hell!  What the fuck was that, Yancy?” Raleigh snaps at his brother.

Yancy laughs, amused.  He just totally knocked Raleigh’s car off the side of the racetrack by using some sort of rocket-launcher type upgrade.

“That’s fucking cheating!” 

“Hey, not my fault you don’t have the multitasking skills to race and pick up items at the same time,” says Yancy.

Raleigh shakes his head.  “I swear, Yance...when I catch up to you…!”

“ _If_ you catch up to me, Rals.   _If_.  And from the looks of it, that’s not likely going to happen.”

“Aw, screw you!”

“Sure, Rals,” Yancy says with a cheeky grin.  “I’ll be more than happy to take care of you later.”

Raleigh blushes.  “Come on, man!  Be serious!”

“Who says I’m not?”

“Augh!  Just what do you have against the movie I chose, anyway?” says Raleigh.

“Nothing,” says Yancy.  “It’s just we’re always watching the movies that _you_ pick on movie nights, and I think it’s about time I have my say in the matter.”

Raleigh frowns.  “I thought you liked all the movies that I picked out before.”

Yancy gives a slight shrug.  “Well, _sure_ , Rals.  I don’t have a real problem or anything with whatever you pick.”

“So then how come today’s an issue?” Raleigh asks.

“Well, _Return of the Kaiju_ is supposed to have some pretty neat technology featured in it, this time around,” says Yancy.  

Raleigh rolls his eyes.  “It’s _science fiction_ , Yancy.  That kind of stuff would never actually happen.”

“Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?”

“I mean, _I guess_ , Yancy,” says Raleigh.  “But wouldn’t you want to watch something a little more realistic?”

Yancy chuckles.  “You know what?  You just want your eye candy.”

“Hey!  We’re allowed five celebrity crushes each, remember?” says Raleigh.  “And this movie just happens to have two of them in it at the same time.  As main characters, too!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Yancy says, shaking his head.  “You’re hopeless.”

Raleigh huffs.  “I could say the same for you, Yance.”

Yancy laughs and Raleigh pouts.  They are racing along quietly for a few moments when Yancy sneaks a glance over at his younger brother, whose face has settled into a scowl.  He half-smiles—it’s clear Raleigh is determined to win; all of his attention is completely focused on the screen in front of him.  Yancy lets out a small sigh before returning his own gaze to the screen, and he makes his decision.

Minutes later, he’s made to endure Raleigh’s little victory dance in front of the television with his controller.  Raleigh is always doing ridiculous things like that.  Yancy smiles and Raleigh turns on him.

“See!” he says, wagging a finger at him.  “You thought you had me, didn’t you?  But I totally got you in the end there!  Did you see what I did?”

Yancy laughs.  “Yeah, kid.  I did.”

The truth was, Yancy totally threw away the game for his brother, but he had to do it carefully.  Raleigh wasn’t stupid—he would have known _and_ gotten upset if Yancy had just simply let him win.  It was too bad that he wouldn’t be seeing his preferred movie of choice tonight, but seeing his little brother as happy as he was made it totally worth it.  

“Go and grab the movie, kid,” Yancy tells his brother with a smile.

Raleigh grins.  “You betcha!  You’re gonna love it, watch!”

Yancy laughs.  “I’m sure I will, kid.”  
  
He can always watch _Rise of the Kaiju_ some other time.  It’s not really all _that_ important anyway.


	4. On a Date

They’d always known that they were closer to each other than most brothers.  In fact, they had known for a long time that what they had between them wasn’t normal for family.  Raleigh and Yancy had been in love with each other for a long time, but they hadn’t done anything about it at first because Yancy was older and he kept telling Raleigh that he was too young, even with Raleigh constantly insisting that his feelings were true for his brother and that they would never change.  Still, Yancy didn’t want to take the risk, so they had waited until Raleigh had turned eighteen before going out on their first official date.  

They choose a carnival as the venue for their first time.  It isn’t exactly their first choice—their initial plan that evening was to go to some upscale restaurant that Yancy had somehow managed to snag reservations to—but they happen to come across it on their way while driving.  Raleigh expresses wanting to go there instead, so Yancy calls the restaurant to let them know that they aren’t going to make it before turning into the well-lit up park.

They end up having a lot of fun—Raleigh has no problem slipping right away into spoiled younger brother mode, and Yancy is more than happy to buy his little brother cotton candy and win him a few prizes at the games.  Towards the end of the night, Yancy catches his brother staring wistfully at all the other couples holding hands and being all lovey-dovey with each other in the park.  Yancy chuckles at this and gently brushes the back of one of his hands against his brother’s.  Raleigh looks over at him with his eyes slightly rounded.

“Yancy…?”

“Come on.  You want to hold hands now, don’t you?” Yancy asks with a smile.  “I can see it written plain as day all over your face.”

Raleigh blushes.  “But _Yance_...they’re all straight couples here.”

Yancy tilts his head to one side.  “So?  There’s no law out there saying that we can’t do the same things they can.”

“...plus, we’re _brothers_ ,” Raleigh says, looking down at his feet.  “I’m sure people can tell at least that much when they look at us, Yance.  They probably won’t understand...”

“Well, so what if they do or don’t?  Who gives a shit?” Yancy says, giving his brother a slight shrug.  “Not like we’re ever going to see any of ‘em again anyway.  Besides, I’m pretty sure they’re all too busy giving each other goo-goo eyes to really care what’s going on around them.”

“Mm...I dunno, Yance…” Raleigh says uncertainly.

Yancy laughs.  “Come on, Rals.  Just give me your hand.  Trust me.”

“...okay.”

Raleigh nods and slowly reaches out for his brother’s hand.  Yancy meets him halfway and clutches his younger brother’s hand, giving it a gentle and reassuring squeeze.  Raleigh smiles uneasily at him and then sneaks a glance around them.  Sure enough, everyone appears to be too preoccupied with their dates and don’t even give the brothers the light of day.  Upon noticing this, Raleigh’s posture becomes a little more confident and straighter, and when he smiles at his brother again, it seems more relaxed.  Yancy smiles warmly back.

“See, kid?  Nothing to it,” he says.

Raleigh nods.  “Yeah, you were right, Yance.”

His older brother smirks.  “I always am.”

Raleigh playfully punches his brother in the shoulder.  “Jerk…”

He blushes when Yancy pecks a kiss to his head.  “Love you too, kiddo.”

Raleigh hums happily in response and wraps himself around Yancy’s arm as they walk towards their next ride, the ferris wheel.  In about an hour, the park will close.  As irrational as it is, deep down inside, Raleigh secretly wishes that tonight will never end.


	5. Kissing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big hug to my biggest supporters~! You know who you all are! I could not plug out these chapters so quickly if it weren't for you all. Thank you!! Much love~ <3

It’s no secret to anyone that Yancy is a heavy sleeper.  Raleigh takes full and complete advantage of this fact.  He is sixteen when he steals his first kiss, and it is without his brother’s knowledge.

It happens on a lazy summer day.  Yancy is passed out on the couch in their living room with one arm behind his head and the other resting across his waist.  One of his legs is propped up and bent slightly at the knee, while the other hangs off from the couch.  He’s breathing softly, and his mouth is only slightly open.  It’s in the middle of the afternoon, and this is how Raleigh finds Yancy when he comes back home from school.

Raleigh smiles upon seeing his brother’s sleeping form.  He drops his backpack to the ground as softly as he can before taking off his shoes and tiptoeing towards his brother.  He tests the waters by gently lifting his brother’s right leg and placing it onto the couch.  Yancy doesn’t so much as fidget.  Raleigh grins and leans forward.

“Hey, Yance…?” Raleigh whispers and nudges his brother gently.  “You still sleepin’?”

Nothing changes.  His brother’s breathing is still quiet and even.  Raleigh’s smile grows a little wider.  He spends a few minutes just admiring his brother before he takes a deep breath and leans forward.

“ _Please don’t get up,”_ Raleigh thinks as he draws his face closer to his brother’s.  “ _And if you do...please don’t get mad at me…!”_

He closes his eyes and feels his face flush instantly the minute he presses his lips against Yancy’s.  Raleigh holds the kiss no more than three seconds before quickly pulling away, breathless from all the excitement.  He can tell from the burning heat in his cheeks that his face is probably red as a tomato.  His heart almost stops when Yancy frowns a little and turns his head with a soft groan, but he relaxes when there is no further movement.  

Raleigh then breaks out into a wild grin and bounces away from his brother.  He picks up his backpack from the ground on the way to his room and when he gets there, he tosses it somewhere beside his desk before flopping onto his bed on his backside.  

In hindsight, however, Raleigh discovers that perhaps he shouldn’t have let his curiosity get the better of him that afternoon.  For now every time when Yancy says something to him, Raleigh finds himself incredibly distracted by his brother’s lips.  He remembers that they are both soft and warm.

Raleigh very much hopes that he will get the opportunity to kiss them again.  He hopes that next time, not only will Yancy be awake to give him one, but that the older man will initiate the kiss himself.  


	6. Wearing Each Others' Clothes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously don't know how this chapter happened. I started with one idea, and then it became...THIS. LOL. Caused me to have to raise the rating of this fic (just to be safe) and everything! Anyway...hope it's not too random!
> 
> (By the way...Zoi no miko and A Bittersweet Liar? I TOTALLY see you guys. Even though you're both mostly silent lurkers...thank you SO MUCH for showering your support on so many of my fics. :D)

Raleigh likes to wear Yancy’s clothes every chance that he gets. His brother’s shoulders are broader and his hips are a little wider too, so when Raleigh steals his brother’s clothes, they are always a little baggy on top and hang slightly loose around his torso. Yancy can’t complain—he enjoys the view. _Especially_ on the weekends, because that’s when Raleigh likes to dress in nothing other than in one of Yancy’s button-up shirts and greet him in bed in the morning. Yancy’s not much of a morning person, but hell, even he’ll wake up for _that_. Raleigh sure knows how to turn him on, too.

Yancy’s birthday is a lands on a Saturday that year, and Raleigh decides he’s going to start the day off right with one of Yancy’s favorite kind of gifts. Thankful that his brother is a heavy sleeper, Raleigh carefully extricates himself from his brother’s grasp and slips toward their shared walk-in closet. He begins rifling through the drawers of a dresser that’s set alongside one wall and pulls out one of Yancy’s white dress shirts. He smiles and sets the shirt down on top of the dresser so that he can strip out of the clothes he’s wearing now. He then wraps Yancy’s shirt around himself and lifts one of the sleeves to his face, taking in his brother’s scent. Somehow, Yancy’s cologne always seems to be permanently embedded in his clothes; not that Raleigh minds. He loves breathing in his brother’s musky odor.

He smiles when he hears his brother start to stir and begins to button up the shirt. Yancy was normally a very heavy sleeper, but lately he had gotten used to Raleigh always being in his arms when he slept and had developed a habit of waking upon Raleigh leaving the bed. Sometimes Raleigh would force himself to stay in bed a bit longer, just so his brother can sleep as long as he wants to. He can’t help it on days when he has to go to class though. Despite the slight change to his usual routine, Yancy never complains, because to tell the truth he’d rather have Raleigh in his arms than out of them.

Yancy is still mostly asleep when Raleigh creeps into bed, and he smiles when the slight frown on his brother’s face slowly disappears as he relaxes. He straddles himself just below his brother’s pelvic region, and he smiles when he feels Yancy’s hands start against his ankles and slide up. Raleigh takes his brother’s hands and guides them up to his naked bottom. He then grins as he leans forward, down onto his brother. Raleigh gives Yancy a soft kiss on the lips and then shivers when his brother’s hands start to wander.

Raleigh kisses his brother on the lips again and smiles as he whispers. “C’mon, Yance...rise and shine…!”

His brother groans softly in protest, but Raleigh is insistent. He kisses his brother some more, until finally Yancy begins to respond; at first just pressing back with his lips, and then eventually adding some tongue. Soon it becomes a full on make-out session, and when both men pull away from each other, that’s when Yancy opens his eyes. They are still hazy at first, from sleep, but Yancy is able to blink that away in a few seconds. He takes a moment to appreciate the view and a small smile forms on his face.

Yancy clears his throat before speaking. “Mm...mornin’, Rals.”

Raleigh smiles down at him. “Morning, Yance.”

Yancy chuckles as he runs his hands along Raleigh’s thighs appreciatively. “What’s the occasion?”

The younger man responds in a low, seductive voice. “ _You know_ what today is…”

Yancy smirks and begins caressing around his brother’s most sensitive spot. His eyes start to become cloudy with lust as Raleigh shivers with pleasure.

“No, Rals. I _don’t_ know,” Yancy says, lifting his chin up slightly. “Why don’t you tell me?”

“Mm... _Yancy_ …!” Raleigh moans when Yancy grips a hand around his manhood and begins to stroke him.

Yancy chuckles, one hand stroking his brother and trailing the fingers of the other up and down his brother’s thigh. Raleigh places both of his hands on Yancy’s shoulders, hissing with pleasure while bucking rhythmically into his brother’s firm hand. He whimpers and buries his face it the crook of Yancy’s neck when his brother runs a thumb over his sensitive tip. Yancy brings up one of his hands and grips at Raleigh’s hair, bringing the younger man’s face up to his so that they can share a kiss. When they part this time, Yancy smiles and whispers into his brother’s ear.

“I want to see you unbutton the shirt for me, Rals,” says Yancy. “But I don’t want you to take it off...just leave the front open.”

“ _Mm_ …! All right, Yancy…” Raleigh says, nodding.

He pushes himself into an upright sitting position and looks down at his brother with half-lidded eyes as he brings his hands up to his brother’s shirt. Knowing what his brother wants, he takes his time about unbuttoning the shirt. Yancy continues in his teasing and Raleigh finds that he can’t help but to clench his legs around his brother a little more tightly as the sensation is too much. He arches his back and moans as Yancy’s fingers find an extra sensitive spot, and he just barely manages to finish opening up the shirt. When he is finished, he is breathing irregularly and looking at his brother with eyes that are filled with longing.

He almost comes when Yancy asks him. “You want me inside you, baby?”

“Unh…! _Yes_ …!” Raleigh moans.

Yancy smiles as he rakes his eyes appreciatively over Raleigh’s lewd form. “ _God_ , you’re so beautiful…”

Raleigh smiles back and tugs gently at the waistband of his brother’s pants. “Yancy, _please_ …! I want you inside of me…!”

Yancy chuckled. “I know...damn these pants, huh? They’re just in the way.”

He stops stroking his brother then, and Raleigh whimpers as he quickly moves down to pull Yancy’s pajama pants right off along with the older man’s boxers. Yancy groans with surprise when, instead of coming back up right away, Raleigh wraps his hot mouth around the older man’s length and begins to suck. Yancy’s hands fly downward and clutch at Raleigh’s blonde locks, pulling gently at the younger man’s hair as he pleasures Yancy. He moans and forces Raleigh’s head up before his brother can get him any closer to his climax. Yancy laughs softly upon seeing the pout on his brother’s face.

“Now, _Raleigh_ …” Yancy scolds his brother playfully. “You know damn well I can’t fuck you if you don’t leave me anything to work with.”

“Ah, you’ve got a point,” Raleigh says, giving his brother a lopsided grin. “Good thing you stopped me.”

“Wait just a second!” Yancy says when Raleigh quickly moves up and is about to press himself against the older man. “Slow down, tiger…! We’ve got to get you ready first.”

“No, Yance,” Raleigh says, shaking his head. “I want you bad...I want you _now_ …”

Yancy chuckles and gives his brother a kiss. “Mm...I know, Rals, I want me to be inside of you too, but I don’t want you to get hurt…!”

Raleigh snorts softly. “I’ll be fine. You’re wet enough...I made sure of that.”

Yancy sighs. “All right, just go slow…”

“Mm...you worry too much, Yance,” Raleigh says with a small smile as he wraps a hand around his brother’s length and begins easing himself slowly onto it. “ _Ah_ …!”

Both men pant heavily as Raleigh moves up and down just Yancy’s tip at first. The older man grips tightly at the sheets around him in order to help him suppress the urge to ram into his brother. Eventually, Yancy lets out a shaky breath when his brother finally engulfs him, and both men moan as they tried to settle into a rhythm.

Yancy places his hands underneath his brother’s thighs, helping the younger man with his movement. Raleigh bites his lip as he reaches his hands up and starts playing with his nipples. He yelps when Yancy hits that special place inside, and in several swift motions, Yancy pulls Raleigh down towards his chest before turning themselves around in the bed.

They look into each other’s eyes before they kiss, and Raleigh eagerly wraps his hand around his own member and pumps himself fervently as his brother slams into him. They are kissing more wildly now, and they both loudly moan into each other’s mouths as they simultaneously reach their climax.

Yancy collapses on top of his brother and the two of them take a few minutes to gather their bearings. The older man chuckles as he gives Raleigh an affectionate peck on the cheek.

“That was _fan_ tastic…” Yancy says, breathlessly.

Raleigh beams. He gives his brother a quick kiss on the lips.

“Happy birthday, Yance.”

“It sure is starting out on a good note,” Yancy says as he gives his brother a cheeky grin. “Now, what else you got for me?”

Raleigh laughs as he gently pushes his brother away from him. “Well, _first_...we both need to go and freshen up.”

Yancy stretches out on his side, propping his head up with a hand and smiles. “ _Mmhmm_...sure, Rals. And then what?”

“And then, you’ll see!” Raleigh says with a wink as he gets up from the bed.

He takes several steps towards the bathroom before glancing back at his brother over his shoulder. “Well? You going to come shower with me or what?”

Yancy grins and climbs out of bed. “Is that even a question…? _Hell_ yes!”

The two of them laugh and Yancy follows his younger brother into the shower. For a while they can’t decide between cleaning themselves and making out against the wall. Finally, after several minutes, they finally manage to get out of the shower.

They weather is cool outside, so they both grab a jacket. Yancy chuckles when Raleigh snatches one of the older man’s worn leather jackets—it’s the one he usually wears when it’s cold, and it also happens to be his younger brother’s favorite, perhaps for that very reason.

“When are you ever going to let me have my jacket back, kid?” Yancy jokes, but he already knows the answer—Raleigh only ever acts this spoiled when they happen to be going out somewhere together.

“C’mere...let me pick your outfit out for you, Yance,” Raleigh says.

“What am I, a two-year-old?” Yancy responds with a laugh. “I can dress myself just fine, kiddo.”

“But I want to do it,” Raleigh says with a slight pout.

Yancy laughs some more while shaking his head. No matter how old they get, he supposes, Raleigh will always be his little brother. Not that he minds—Yancy knows that Raleigh will only ever show this childish side of his towards him.

Yancy chuckles and nods his assent. “All right, kid. Show me what you’ve got.”

His heart warms when his brother’s face breaks out into a grin, and Raleigh starts handing him the clothes that he’s picked out. He smiles when Raleigh fits one of his own caps onto Yancy’s head, right after the older man has slipped on a different jacket. Due to their difference in body types, Raleigh’s clothes tend to be a little too tight for his older brother. So when Yancy feels like wearing something of his little brother’s, it tends to be the accessories, which actually happens to suit his personality just fine. Yancy is a little more on the practical side of things anyway, so he finds more value in certain things more than his little brother would. Like Raleigh’s watch, for example. Sometimes, when Raleigh leaves it behind, Yancy picks it up and wears it so he can be reminded of his brother whenever he needs to glance at his wrist in order to check the time; not that Yancy really needs any kind of help in that department.

Yancy grins and lightly taps at the end of Raleigh’s cap, making it cover his eyes a little bit. He does this, because he knows it’s one of those odd things that just happens to turn his brother on, and sure enough, his brother pounces him, wrapping his arms around Yancy’s neck. They kiss.

“You look perfect…” Raleigh says with a smile.

“And so do you,” Yancy says as he smiles back and pulls his jacket a little tighter around Raleigh’s frame from the front.

Yancy breaks away from his brother, turns, and holds out his arm. He tilts his head towards the open doorway.

“Well? Shall we go?” he asks.

Raleigh doesn’t skip a beat and slips his arm around his brother’s, linking them together. “Yeah, I’ve got a whole day planned out for us.”

Yancy raises an eyebrow and chuckles. “ _Do you_ now?”

Raleigh decides to intentionally misinterpret the question and winks at his brother. “ _Hm_...I’ll be more than happy to take you up on that offer when we get back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totally forgot to write this before. (Thank you, Hardyness, for saying something that reminded me in your comment. LOL.)
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the +1 bonus in here where it's Yancy's birthday. One of the OTP prompt chapters has someone doing something on one of their birthdays, but I thought since for that chapter I can only do one (and I do want to try sticking to the prompt), I decided to throw in this little addition in here. Hope you all liked it!


	7. Cosplaying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEW! SO SORRY this took so long! This was the _most_ difficult prompt...EVER!!!! Just ask Hardyness! I was stuck on this mini-prompt for AGES! Who knew writing about cosplaying could cause such a roadblock? I sure didn't! Anyway, hope this chapter meets to everyone's satisfaction, and hopefully future chapters won't be this difficult to write! Never fear, I am going strong with the writing. It's seriously thanks to all the support from my lovely readers, guests and signed commenters/kudoers alike that I am able to keep writing at such a regular pace. It's amazing!
> 
> Really trying my hardest to fill all the prompts from the kink-meme I've taken interest in! So far I have roughly 105 collected!! Crazy, right?! Hopefully these anons don't mind multiple fills, because at this rate, so many other people are going to beat me to the punch! So far the anons I've asked have told me they don't mind, but gah! The pressure!!
> 
> All righty...totally done ranting now. Enjoy the chapter~!

Yancy had no clue how he let Raleigh talk him into wearing this ridiculous costume.  Actually, that was a lie—he knew _exactly_ why he was wearing it, and the answer was his baby brother.  Yancy really needed to learn how to say no to Raleigh, so he could stop ending up in awkward situations like the one he is in now.

Ever since the movie _Pacific Rim_ was released, Raleigh has been obsessed.  Admittedly, Yancy had also felt a bit emotional the first time he watched the movie with his brother because of the two brother characters in it, who were unceremoniously wrenched from each other within the first few minutes of the film.  His brother, however, took his infatuation with the film to the next extreme.

Which is why they are now at this event called Jaeger Con, where he and his brother are dressed in Drivesuits.  It doesn’t help that he and his brother actually _look_ like the two actors who portrayed the pair of unfortunate brothers in the film, a fact that is only enforced by fellow rabid Pac-Rim fans—which is what they call themselves—and is a source of frustration for Yancy, who is less than thrilled to be here.

Raleigh grins up at his brother after they’ve received what was probably the millionth compliment from a random passerby on their uncanny resemblance.  A few fangirls squeal when Raleigh hangs off his brother’s arm, because by doing so, he is totally helping their shipping fantasies come to life.

Yancy shakes his head at his brother.  “You’re enjoying this way too much, kid.”

His younger brother chuckles.  “C’mon, Yance.  Don’t be such a spoilsport.”  

“I mean, is this even _normal?_ ” Yancy asks, gesturing as subtly as he can towards some girls making inhuman noises and taking pictures of the two of them together.

“At these kinds of events?  Yeah, sure!” Raleigh says with a smile.  “In fact, why don’t we _really_ give them something to talk about?”

“What do you mean by that?” his older brother asks with a frown.

He raises an eyebrow when Raleigh stops and turns to face him.  Before he realizes what his younger brother has planned, Raleigh throws his arms around Yancy’s neck and pulls the older man down for a kiss.  Partly because he’s stunned, Yancy’s body moves on autopilot and his hands lift to rest on the younger man’s hips.  His eyes have only been closed for a split second when his ears are overwhelmed with the thunderous roar of cheering and sounds of cameras clicking.  When both brothers pull away from the kiss and open their eyes, they are greeted with the sight of their own unofficial paparazzi.  Raleigh gives his brother a cheeky grin, and Yancy looks back at him, completely perplexed.

“See?  Isn’t this fun?” the younger man asks.  “We’re totally like celebrities here.”

Yancy shakes his head and mutters.  “It’s fucking weird, that’s what this is.”

As a result of their fanservicing actions, and much to Yancy’s dismay, it takes the brothers _forever_ to leave the convention center.  On the way back home, Yancy vows that they are never going to attend another convention again, Jaeger-themed or otherwise.

The next morning, Yancy is horrified when he sees what’s on the computer screen.  He discovers the article by chance while performing his usual morning ritual of checking the news.  It's a short piece about the convention he and his brother just attended, and more than the title, which is "Fangirls' Dreams Come True at Jaeger Con," it's the accompanying image that catches his eye—it's of him and Raleigh in their Drivesuit costumes, engaged in what appears to be a serious lip lock.  Yancy can feel his ears burning as he reads the article.

“Slash fans everywhere celebrated when two men cosplaying as the brother co-pilots from the movie _Pacfic Rim_ were inspired to get into character at this year’s Jaeger Con…” Yancy read aloud before running his hands over his face.  “Oh dear God…”

Yancy’s posture goes rigid when he hears his younger brother enter the room and approach him from behind.  “What’re you up to, Yance?”

The younger man frowns when Yancy turns around in his chair and sees the expression on his older brother’s face.  “Something wrong?  What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Yancy asks with an exasperated tone.  “Have you _seen_ the news this morning?”

Raleigh scrunches his nose and walks closer to his brother.  “Is that a rhetorical question?  Because you know I don’t read the news, Yance...that’s your thing.”

The older man sighs and shakes his head.  He pushes himself on the rolling chair he’s sitting on and maneuvers away from the desktop so that Raleigh can see what’s displayed on the computer’s screen.  

Yancy jabs his thumb behind him to emphasize his point.  “ _Look_.”

“Alright, let’s see what we’ve got here…” Raleigh says as he reads over his brother.

There’s a brief silence as the younger man skims the article and takes time to process what he’s reading.  Seconds later, the younger man bursts out into uncontrollable laughter.  His older brother is unamused.

“You think this is _funny?_ ” Yancy asks.  “I just did a few Google searches.  There’s more articles like this in other places.  We’re all over the fucking Internet.”

“Are you kidding me?  This is great!” Raleigh says, grinning wildly.  “We’re famous!”

Yancy groans and buries his face in his hands.  “My reputation…!  I’m going to be the laughingstock at work now, I know it!”

He bristles when he hears the younger man laugh.  Raleigh leans over his brother’s seat and presses a kiss to the older man’s forehead.

“No point in crying over spilt milk, yeah?” says Raleigh.  “Tricky thing, the Internet.  Once it’s out there, there really is no taking it back.”

Yancy lets out a sigh and glares at Raleigh after dropping his hands from his face.  “You know what?  This is all your fault.”

Raleigh, sensing danger, takes a step back.  “Now, wait a minute, Yancy…!”

Yancy’s lips quirk at the corners, despite himself.  “No…!  I’m going to make you pay for this!  Do you have _any_ idea how hard I’ve tried at work to—”

“Oh, I can imagine,” Raleigh says, cutting his brother off with a grin.  “But really, this is good!  You need to know how to live a little, Yance!”

He laughs and makes a run for it when his brother lunges for him playfully.  “Get back here, kid!”

“Catch me if you can!” Raleigh says, sticking out his tongue.  “Bet you can’t!”

Yancy laughs with his brother and chases after him out of the room.  “You’d better hope I won't, kid!”


	8. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo hoo! Another chapter! Gosh, I seriously need to get cracking on all these other prompts I've got piled up! I'm just a sucker for writing chaptered fics though...I think before I post any more chapters to this and my other long project, I'm going to see if I can plug out some one-shots and take care of a handful of the prompts I've stocked up on. Hahaha. Wish me luck!

They both hate going to the mall, but both Raleigh and Yancy can shop up a storm online.  Each brother has his own vice—Yancy likes to stay up-to-date on the latest electronic gadgets and Raleigh is all about the construction tools.  Raleigh also likes to buy coffee, assorted candies, and all the books he can find on WWII.  Needless to say, the bulk of the packages that arrive at the Becket household are addressed to Raleigh.

It takes a while for Yancy to catch on at first, but there’s a reason why Raleigh orders so much more than he does, and it’s not really because Raleigh has a broader range of interests, although that is also true.  The real reason why Raleigh buys as much as he does is so he can see Eric, the delivery guy.

Now, Raleigh would _never_ dream of cheating on his brother or dumping him for another man, but Eric was _gorgeous_.  He was the walking definition of tall, dark, and handsome, and he had a pair of warm brown eyes that Raleigh could just get lost in.  Not to mention that he had a deep and sexy voice when he spoke.  

Raleigh met Eric for the first time by chance when he opened the door a second after Eric had rung their front doorbell and dropped off a package belonging to Yancy.  Raleigh had offered to pick it up for his brother since Yancy was in the shower.  Initially, Raleigh had been rendered speechless and had only been able to exchange an awkward greeting with the man.  The next time though, Raleigh had been prepared.

Twenty-five deliveries and several conversations later, Raleigh had developed a friendly rapport with the delivery man.  He found out that Eric’s full name is Eric Weston, and that he is married to a beautiful woman named Charlene with whom he has three children—two sons and a daughter.  All of which is totally fine, because Raleigh really does love Yancy to pieces so it’s not like Raleigh is disappointed that Eric is a taken man.  When asked about himself, Raleigh happily supplied that he was the younger of two brothers, and that he was currently living with his older brother.  Of course, he conveniently leaves out that he and his brother are very much an item, which is why Eric finds himself in for a surprise several weeks later.

At some point, Yancy realizes Raleigh is spending way too much time at the front door when a package is delivered.  He also finds suspicious that Raleigh is lately always too happy to pick up Yancy’s packages for him as well, which was a request that used to always make his younger brother grumble, at one point in time.  Furthermore, Yancy finds it odd that Raleigh is always in such a rush to answer the door immediately upon delivery of a package, even for the ones that don’t contain any expensive valuables or requires a signature confirmation, because those could totally be left at their doorstep without a problem.  Not that the brothers really had to worry about anything getting stolen anyway; theirs was a pretty safe neighborhood.  

Curious about his brother’s newly developed habit, Yancy decides to investigate.  So his plan of action is to first order the new model of the Kaijuminator vacuum, signature confirmation required.  Yancy clicks the option for next-day delivery—the sooner he can figure out what’s going on, the better.

The package does indeed arrive the next day, and like clockwork, Raleigh rattles down the stairs the minute he hears the front doorbell ring.  Yancy pretends he’s preoccupied with something, but as soon as he hears his brother open the door, Yancy is by their window in their room, peeking out at the street below.  

His eyes narrow when he sees the delivery man at their front door who is so obviously the reason for Raleigh’s enthusiasm in picking up their packages right away.  Yancy can’t really catch the contents of his brother’s conversation, but he can hear his brother’s laughter floating up from down below, and it makes Yancy bristle.  No one is allowed to make his precious little brother laugh other than him.

Yancy decides he’s going to let it slide that day.  He slinks back to his computer and browses his usual online shopping sites to find something else he fancies to have delivered to their doorstep.  He smirks when he clicks on the button to submit his order.

“ _This should be fun,”_ Yancy thinks.

A few days later, Yancy _is_ actually in the shower when the next package arrives.  The older man doesn’t hear the doorbell, but he grins to himself when he _does_ hear the sound of Raleigh thundering down the steps to answer the front door.  In no hurry, Yancy turns off the tap and steps out of the shower.  He grabs the towel hanging from a rack and wraps it around his waist before leaving the bathroom and going down the stairs.

He almost can’t contain his laughter when he comes up behind his brother and wraps his arms around Raleigh while he’s still talking to Eric.  Both men become immediately frozen and Raleigh’s face turns red when Yancy starts roaming the younger man’s neck with his lips.  Eric’s face is turning red too, but for a completely different reason.

“Uh... _Yance_ …?” Raleigh says after gulping once.  “Er...what do you think you’re doing…?”

Yancy bites the lobe of his brother’s ear with a little more pressure than he initially intended in attempts to help him keep from bursting out into laughter.  His is also smiling a bit wider than he probably would like.

“Why were you in such a hurry to open the door, hm…?” Yancy says, as casually as can be.  “I thought we were going to shower together.”

He buries his face in the cook of his younger brother’s neck to help himself stifle the laughter that still threatens to come out and wraps his arms more tightly around his brother’s frame to keep his own body from trembling.

Raleigh’s voice comes out strained.  “What’re you talking about, Yance…?  I thought you were—”

“Oh, _I see_ ,” Yancy says suddenly, cutting his brother off.  “You were just excited because you know what it is I got you, right?”

His younger brother blanches.  “W-what…?”

“Aw, c’mon,” Yancy says as he takes the package out of a stunned Eric’s hands.  “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

He gives the package a good shake and chuckles when both his brother and the delivery man blush at the sound of the contents rattling inside the box.  Eric averts his gaze and shuffles away from the brothers awkwardly.

“I...uh...I should probably, um…go,” he says.

“No, wait!  Eric!  It’s not what you think!” Raleigh says before smacking a hand to his face.  “I mean, it _is_ , but...ugh…!”

“Don’t worry about it, man,” Eric practically squeaks.  “It’s cool.”

“It...it is?” Raleigh asks, perplexed.

“Um...yeah,” Eric says, still clearly stunned.  “I’ll uh...see you next time, I think?”

“Oh, okay, great,” Raleigh says, relieved.  “Talk to you later.”

He shuts the door after Eric leaves in his delivery truck and glares at his brother.  “What the hell, Yancy?”

Yancy finally lets out the laughter he had been holding in.  “Oh man!  Did you see that guy’s face?”

“Well of course I did!  I was standing right there too,” Raleigh says, shaking his head.  “Seriously, what’d you do that for?  What’s with you?”

“Well, I had to make sure he knew you were taken,” his brother says in response.  “What, with the way you were confusing him and all, flirting with him.”

“Confusing him?  What do you mean?  He’s my friend, Yancy!” Raleigh says, his brows furrowed in confusion.  “Just so you know, that guy _is_ married.  To a _woman_...and he has _kids_.”

His older brother tilts his head to the side and a small frown forms on his face.  “Hang on...you’re telling me that guy is _straight?_ ”

“Well, yeah, because he _is_ ,” Raleigh says before blinking.  “Hey, wait a minute... _Yancy_.  Is it…?  Is it possible that you were _jealous_ just now…?”

“H-huh?” Yancy stammers, his face suddenly turning a bright pink.  “N-no way!  What are you talking about, Rals?”

He didn’t like the fact the tables suddenly seemed to have turned.  A small, amused smile formed on his younger brother’s face.

“Oh my God!  You _were_ jealous, weren’t you!” Raleigh says, eyes twinkling.

“I, uh...I think I’m going to go get changed now!” Yancy says quickly before bolting up the stairs.

Raleigh immediately chases after his older brother, laughing.  “Oh no you don’t, Yance!  You get back here right now, mister!  You owe me, big time!”


	9. Hanging Out With Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again...I didn't think I was going to update this story before I update the mini-series I just started, but oh well. This is what my muse came up with. 
> 
> Meant to upload a whole slew of updates last night, but yeah, that totally didn't happen. Hope tonight will turn out a lot better.
> 
> This chapter was inspired by a comment one of my readers made on the fourth chapter of this story. Thanks as always, SublimeDiscordance. ;p
> 
> P.S. I totally borrowed a line from _Despicable Me 2_. Just because. :p
> 
> P.P.S. An edit was made thanks to the respectfully submitted constructive criticism by SublimeDiscordance. Did my best with the advice. Thanks always for your support and honesty, as it's always welcome and appreciated~! :)

After graduating high school, Yancy attends a local community college that gives him flexible enough hours to work part-time so that he can put his younger brother through school.  As much as he loves Raleigh and wants the younger man to enjoy the frivolities of life, Yancy makes it a point to hound his little brother daily about his studies, making sure he stays at the top of his class.  

The hard work and nagging does end up paying off.  Before either of them know it, Raleigh successfully completes high school with honors and gets accepted into a prestigious university somewhere out-of-state.  While Raleigh is proud of his accomplishments, he is less than thrilled at the thought of being separated from his brother.  Yancy feels the same way, but he refuses to settle for anything less than the brightest future for his brother, so he is able to set aside any personal feelings he has for his brother and sends his brother out of the house with all the love in the world.  They do not see each other for several weeks.

Initially, Raleigh calls home almost every night and cries shamelessly, telling his brother how much he hates being so far apart from him.  Each time, Yancy will let him ramble on for a while before calmly responding by telling him to focus on his studies and to always look for the silver lining, shortly after which they’ve  almost always hung up after swapping their share of affectionate love declarations.  The calls become less frequent once Raleigh finally adjusts and starts taking his older brother’s advice to heart; he even makes a small group of friends.  At first, Yancy doesn’t mind too much that his younger brother is calling him less.  Then, one day, his brother calls him just a few days before his very first winter vacation and says something that completely grabs the older man’s attention.

“So you ready to come home for the holidays this winter?” Yancy asks; he’s whipping up a little something for himself in the kitchen.

He smiles when his brother’s response comes through from the other end.  “ _Yeah, sure am, Yance!  But…”_

Yancy frowns slightly and stops in his movement; he had been mixing a few ingredients together in a cooking bowl.  He sets his materials down and adjusts the phone against his ear.

“But…?” he questions.

“ _Mm...well…”_

Yancy shakes his head upon hearing his brother’s hesitance.  “Just spit it out, Raleigh.  What is it?  Something wrong?”

“ _No!  Not at all!  It’s just...well...I kind of made some friends…”_

Yancy’s posture relaxes some.  “Yeah, okay.  So?  That’s great, Rals.”

“ _Thanks, Yance!”_ Raleigh says cheerily.  “ _Anyway, a couple of my friends—Avery and some others—wanted to go take a quick skiing trip before we all head back to wherever our homes are...so I was wondering...is it okay if I go with them, Yance?  I won’t go if you say you don’t want me to.”_

“No, that’s fine, I guess, but…” 

“ _Yeah?”_

Yancy hesitates briefly and a slight frown forms on his face.  “Who’s Avery...?  Is that a girl’s name or a boy’s name?”

He bristles when he hears his brother’s laughter through the phone.  “ _What?  Does it really matter?  Anyway, is it okay if I go or not?”_

“Hm...well...I guess it’s all right,” Yancy says as he starts mixing the ingredients in his cooking bowl again, this time a bit more aggressively.  “But on one condition.”

“ _Sure, Yance.  What’s that?”_

“I get to join y’all.”

And the older Becket expects a bit of hesitation, but Raleigh surprises him with his immediate and enthusiastic response.  It warms Yancy’s heart.

“ _Really?!  You really want to come, Yance?  That would be totally awesome, yeah!  I’ll tell the others!  How soon can you fly over?”_

Yancy smiles.  “When were you all thinking of going?”

“ _This weekend,”_ Raleigh quickly replies.  “ _I bought a ticket to fly back home to you early Monday morning.”_

Yancy’s smile grows a little wider at that; Raleigh saying that he was coming back specifically for him.  Yancy adjusts the position of his cell phone between his head and his shoulder.  

“Alright well, let me see if I can get a ticket for myself and fly over there tonight,” he tells Raleigh.  “If for some reason I can’t make it, I’ll give you a call.”

“ _Yeah, okay, Yance,”_ says Raleigh.  “ _I really hope you can though!”_

“Yeah, kid.  Me too,” says Yancy.  “If I can though, I’ll get a rental car and come pick you up, okay?  You can tell me where the slope is and I’ll take you there.  We can spend some time catching up in the car.”

“ _Sounds good to me!”_ Raleigh says happily.  “ _I’m all for that plan.”_

“...your friends won’t be needing a ride too, will they?” Yancy asks somewhat hesitantly.

He’s relieved when his brother responds favorably.  “ _Nope!  They’ve all got rides, Yance.  Actually, I’m supposed to be going with a couple of them, but if you’re coming then—”_

“Yeah, okay.  Say no more, kid,” Yancy says with a grin.  “Y’all got a hotel or something up there?”

“ _Yeah, we did.  We’re just going to spend one day and a night at the slopes.”_

“Cool,” Yancy says, because it is.  “Alright well, I’m making dinner for myself right now, so I’ll catch you later, kid.”

“ _Mm...I really miss all your home-cooking, Yance.”_

The older man laughs.  “Well, I’ll make you anything you want while you’re back over here on break.”

“ _Sweet!”_

Yancy smiles.  “Talk to you later, Rals.”

“ _Yeah, alright,”_ says Raleigh.  “ _See ya!”_

Yancy chuckles softly after hanging up the phone and temporarily abandons his cooking.  He goes to the computer room and powers up the machine.  Dinner can definitely wait; he has a flight to book.

The very next day, Raleigh is more excited and restless than a child expecting to see Santa Claus on Christmas.  When Yancy finally arrives in a rental car to pick him up from campus, all his friend’s jaws drop upon seeing the older Becket.  Sure, Raleigh is one hot little motherfucker, but _boy_ is his brother absolutely _smoking_.  The girls in Raleigh’s group are unable to do anything other than look between the two brothers in awe, and the boys already know that they don’t stand a chance against the undeniably attractive siblings.  So when the two brothers split from the group, promising to meet the rest of them later at the slopes, the boys were temporarily relieved and the girls let out mournful sighs.  

Raleigh looks over at his brother curiously when he realizes Yancy set his navigation system for an address different from where they were actually supposed to be going.  For once, he doesn’t think he knows what his brother is thinking.

“Hey, Yance…?”

“Hm?”

“I think you put in the wrong address.”

“Nope,” Yancy says, shaking his head.  “It’s right.”

Raleigh raises an eyebrow.  “It is…?”

“Yup, sure is,” Yancy says with a small smile.

Raleigh doesn’t know how to respond to that.  He’s even more confused when Yancy pulls into the parking lot of a hotel.  The older man takes full advantage of Raleigh’s state of stupor and drags the younger man along after they have parked.  Before Raleigh has a chance to register what is going on, Yancy’s checked them in—apparently he had made reservations—and soon the younger man finds himself pinned under his brother on a fluffy bed.  He can’t seem to decide whether he’s happy or confused when his brother starts peppering kisses down the side of his face and he’s only half-listening to the apologies his brother whispers to him.  

“Sorry, Rals…” Yancy mutters.  “I really wish we could be doing this back at home, but you wanted to go on this trip, and I just couldn’t stand the thought of someone possibly getting to you first—”

And Raleigh listens as his brother rambles on a bit; doesn’t mind in the slightest that Yancy’s touching him all over.  Soon, the two of them are naked in bed and it all just happens so fast.  Yancy starts kissing him and Raleigh finds himself kissing back.  All at once, Raleigh finds himself excited and frustrated; he can't tell if Yancy's trying to be gentle or if he's just being a tease. The younger man's impatience stems from his ignorance—not that Yancy really knows any better in this situation, it's his first time as well. However—perhaps in part due to age—at the very least, Yancy has both the sense and the patience to progress things at a gradual pace. It's somewhat annoying to them both, but it really does pay off for them in the end; Raleigh's heart twists and thumps hard against his ribcage because all at once he's split between being absolutely turned on as well as both touched and impressed by Yancy's tenderness and incredible self-control. After ample preparation, his brother pushes into him gently. He moves slowly for what seems like forever and Raleigh feels like he's losing his mind. Then Yancy hits that spot, which makes something inside Raleigh’s mind suddenly _click_ and in that moment, the first coherent thought that he’s had in a while appears in the form of an “ _oh_."

As if reading his mind, Yancy suddenly picks up the pace, and for the next hour and a half the two brothers roll around in bed, having the time of their lives.  Some time after, the two men check out after having spent a few moments cuddling in post-coital bliss and cleaned up after themselves. The entire ride to their next destination, Raleigh's mind is in complete chaos, but in a good way. He both can't believe what just happened and cannot wait for the chance to do it again. The best part is, he has no doubt that he and Yancy will be doing it all over again.

Unable to hide his feelings, Raleigh's pleasure clearly shows and the fact that the younger man seems to quite literally glow is something that does not go missed by his peers when he and his brother finally arrive at the ski lodge.  Everyone is too mesmerized by their presence, however, and so they fail to notice all the little details.  Like when Yancy places his jacket around Raleigh at some point during the night, or the way Raleigh settles into his brother when the older man spreads out one of his arms on the back of the couch.  

At some point during the night, Yancy whispers something in his brother’s ear, making the younger man blush, before he calls it a night and heads up to their room first.  As a result, Raleigh finds that he is no longer interested nor can he focus on the conversation his friends are having.  Not even five minutes after his brother had left the room, Raleigh decides to get up and announce that he will also be retiring for the evening.  The girls all groan in disappointment while the boys all shoot Raleigh grateful looks, misunderstanding Raleigh’s desire to get back to his brother as a kind act of generosity.

“Gosh…” Raleigh hears one of the girls sigh as he makes his way out of the room.  “I wish I could have a good looking brother like Raleigh does.”

“Well, yeah, but then wouldn’t that kind of suck, too?” another girl says in response.  “Then you wouldn’t be able to date him.”

“Ah…!  Too true,” the first girl says with a laugh.

Raleigh smirks upon hearing the exchange and thinks to himself.  “ _They have no idea.”_

Raleigh knows he’s totally living the best of both worlds.  He gets to the room he’s sharing with his brother in record time and smiles as he slides his keycard into a slot to open the hotel room door.  The first thing his brother does when he enters the room is greet him with a lecture, but Raleigh doesn’t really care.

Yancy tries his best to look stern, but it’s not really working.  “I thought I told you to take your time about coming up?”

“Aw, who the hell cares?” Raleigh asks with a grin as strips off his shirt and tosses it unceremoniously behind him onto the floor.  “They don’t have a clue, anyway.”

They both laugh and Raleigh bounces onto the bed.  Yancy pulls the younger man into his arms and the two of them roll around playfully on the mattress for a bit before their jesting transforms into something else entirely.

_If only they knew._


	10. With Animal Ears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, y'all! I realize it's been a while since I've updated this one. I wasn't stuck so much as I really wanted to get around to conquering more prompts before circling around back to this one. I figured it was about time for a new chapter for this one though! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get it out in time for Halloween, but hey, better late than never, right?
> 
> There's a little nod to my OC characters from my [Depth of Obsession](http://archiveofourown.org/series/54355) series in this chapter. Sort of an inside joke in a way between myself and those who have been enjoying that series. It's a bit of a weird concept, I suppose, but this chapter could be considered a spin-off of that series or an AU of an AU. Either works, really. Since Hardyness and a couple other of my regular readers mentioned not minding (when I asked a while back) if I decided to give my OC's from that series cameos in other fics I write, here they are! 
> 
> As always, hope you all enjoy this! Thanks for your continued support!

Yancy's in middle school and it's Halloween. While everyone else at the party they are at—some girl's house, a friend of a friend—is dressed as some superhero or some kids movie character, Yancy's dressed as a werewolf. All his younger brother's idea, of course, _obviously_. Raleigh is also dressed as a werewolf, because he's the one who originally wanted the costume, and insisted that Yancy follow suit so that they could form a “pack” together. Yancy never bothers correcting him, telling him it takes at least five to even make a group—the kid is only nine, after all. Both boys are dressed up in furs and matching hats with wolf ears. 

Yancy tried to get one of his best friends, Jeremy, to join in on their theme. It came as no surprise though that the other boy wasn't having it; he arrived to the party as a pirate. Jeremy looks good in it too—between Yancy's two best friends, Jeremy's the one who can best pull off the “bad boy” look. Naturally, all the girls flock to him, much to the dark-haired boy's chagrin. There's a reason why Jeremy decided to dress so flashy that evening, Yancy knows, and he's planning on teasing the other boy about that later. 

Not surprisingly, Raleigh is perfectly content that it's just himself and Yancy in matching costumes. The older boy finds his brother to be quite endearing—Raleigh looks so adorable holding onto his hand, constantly pushing his wolf hat out of his eyes every time it slips over them, that Yancy doesn't at all mind not having been able to come to the party wearing a costume more appropriate for his age group. 

His little brother is hovering by the table with desserts piled on it. Yancy chuckles as Raleigh's eyes grow wide at the various assortment of pastries and other goodies he sees. 

“Can we eat as much as we want?” Raleigh asks, looking at Yancy with big eyes and pointing to the table with his free hand. 

Yancy smiles and musses Raleigh's hair through his hat. “Sure can, Rals, but let's not go to town, all right? Gotta make sure to share with everyone else.” 

“Mm...yeah, okay!” Raleigh says and Yancy shakes his head as the younger boy tugs him towards the table; it's not clear whether his message has gone through. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Yancy notices Jeremy fidgeting by a punch bowl, clearly distracted by something. Yancy follows the other boy's gaze and his lips curl into a small smile when he realizes what's got his friend's attention. Yancy turns to Raleigh, who is busy nibbling at a cupcake. 

“Hey, kid.” 

Raleigh looks up at the older boy and responds with his mouth slightly full. “M'yeah...?” 

Yancy chuckles. “Think you can be good and stick by the desserts for a while?” 

Raleigh nods. “Sure, Yance! Where you going though?” 

The older boy points back at where his friend Jeremy is standing. “Gonna talk to Jerry real quick. I'll be right back.”

Raleigh smiles. “Okay. I'll be here.” 

“Good,” Yancy says with a smile, ruffling his brother's hair affectionately before walking over to his friend. “Hey, Jerry!” 

The other boy doesn't hear him at first. Yancy snickers softly and sneaks up on his friend before whispering in the dark-haired boy's ear. 

“So when are you going to tell him?” 

He almost fails to suppress his laughter when Jeremy jumps and his posture goes rigid. He turns to Yancy and scowls. 

“Holy hell!” Jeremy hisses. “What the fuck, dude?”

This time Yancy can't contain his laughter. Jeremy's face turns a light shade of pink. To Yancy's credit though, he recovers quickly. 

“Sorry, couldn't help myself,” Yancy says, shaking his head. “Seriously though, when are you going to tell him?” 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Jeremy snaps, but Yancy knows that's just his friend's defense mechanism, to deflect questions he doesn't want to answer with an irritated tone in hopes the other person will let the matter go. 

Unfortunately for Jeremy, Yancy is pretty familiar with this tactic. His lips quiver ever so slightly at the corners as he tries to contain his amusement. 

“Well? You going to save him at least?” Yancy asks.

He motions in the direction of their other best friend, Kyle, who appears a little uncomfortable and flustered. He is surrounded by a small group of mean-spirited individuals making fun of the mermaid costume he's wearing, the result of a lost bet. Kyle and Jeremy have been friends for a little longer than Yancy has been with them; he doesn't know all the details of their history, but he knows that the two of them are quite close. Perhaps it's because he and Jeremy are a lot alike in some respects—Jeremy is as protective of Kyle as Yancy is with Raleigh—but Yancy enjoys teasing his friend every now and again.

For brief moment, Jeremy seems to debate between acting on his instincts or saving face with Yancy. His brows furrow together in what Yancy recognizes as self-disapproval, and the blonde finds himself feeling admittedly slightly guilty for possibly taking his gibe a little too far. 

“Look, you do what you've got to do, man,” he says with a slight shrug. “I'm going to go back and check on Raleigh. You holler if you need some backup.” 

Jeremy snorts, but there's a bit of a smile in his eyes so Yancy knows they'll be okay. “Yeah, whatever. Like I need help from a puppy.” 

“Hey, I resent that!” Yancy says with a half-smile as he points to the ears on his head. “These are _wolf ears_ , thank you very much.” 

“What, 'cause your brother says so?” Jeremy asks with a small grin.

“That's exactly right,” Yancy says with a nod. 

“Whatever, fucking brother complex,” Jeremy mutters. “Anyway, I don't have time to waste on you right now; I'll talk to you later.” 

Yancy chuckles and decides that, under the current circumstances, he's going to just let his friend's snippy remarks slide. He keeps an eye on Jeremy while walking back to where he left his brother. He watches with mild amusement as he sees his friend say some things that immediately cause the group of bullies around Kyle to disperse, which doesn't come as a surprise at all to Yancy; he and Jeremy were well-known for their fists, so to speak, and most people preferred to avoid any type of conflict than to take them on. He also notes with mild interest that Jeremy takes Kyle's hand and drags him off somewhere; Kyle is blushing furiously. Yancy decides he'll figure out whether or not he'll tease Jeremy about it later, though he might just avoid the subject for Kyle's sake.

Once his two friends are out of sight, Yancy turns his attention to where he remembers his brother had been standing, only to find that the boy is surrounded by a few girls chatting him up. Now, though the rational part of Yancy's brain recognizes that these girls are way too old for his brother—he also knows the girls just find Raleigh to be cute in his costume choice—Yancy suddenly feels his protective instincts kick in. He walks up to his brother and slings a protective arm around Raleigh. Perhaps in part due to the garb he's wearing, when Yancy forces himself to smile, he looks like a feral wolf baring its teeth, ready to protect what's his. The girls that had been flocking around Raleigh are quick to take the hint and excuse themselves. 

Raleigh blinks in confusion at this and looks up at his brother. “Yance...?” 

Still young, Raleigh's attention is easily diverted when his older brother gives him an affectionate kiss on the forehead. He laughs when Yancy flashes him an easygoing grin. 

“I think I'm about ready to go home, kid. What do you think?” the older boy asks. 

“Sure!” Raleigh agrees easily at first, but then a light frown forms on his face as he glances as the table of baked goods. “But...” 

Yancy follows his brother's gaze and chuckles. “Hm...how about we take some for the road, eh?” 

He chuckles inwardly when Raleigh's eyes seem to round to the size of golf balls. “ _Really_ , Yance...?!” 

“Sure, why not?” Yancy says with a shrug. “Not like anyone's really going to notice anyway; everyone seems pretty busy.” 

He returns the bright smile that spreads broadly across his younger brother's face. “Okay!” 

“All right, now wait here a minute,” says Yancy. “Let me see if I can find something to carry stuff in.” 

Raleigh nods enthusiastically and waits for his brother to return. Minutes later, they walk away from the party, hand-in-hand, with two plastic bags filled with goodies in tow.  


	11. Wearing Kigurumis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately I didn't get this chapter out in time for Christmas for my beloved Hardyness. Hopefully they don't mind that it's a day late! I thought it was only fair to update this sooner than usual because I updated my OC-centric fic ahead of schedule. 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this one. I don't want to spoil things, so I'll just be vague, but any mention of real persons and music borrowed specifically for this chapter is just all in good fun.

“Remind me why we're doing this again?” Yancy grumbles as he tugs at the uncomfortable suit he's wearing. 

Raleigh laughs, the head of his Dalmatian costume tucked under one arm. “Come on, Yance! It'll be fun! This will be brief. They literally only need us for one shot.” 

“And how did you say you know this band?” Yancy asks as he adjusts the hood of his costume; he's supposed to be a fish. 

“They're friends of a friend,” Raleigh says absently as takes one of his brother's hands and tugs him along. “Let's go! They're calling for us.” 

“This is ridiculous,” Yancy mutters. 

They're on the set of a music video film shoot, and Yancy has somehow been roped into yet another one of Raleigh's brilliant little ideas. Apparently his little brother is a friend by association with the band who are—incidentally, another pair of brothers—well known for their comedic music videos. They are supposedly a successful duo, though Yancy had never heard of them before now. 

When the director calls action, Raleigh puts on his Dalmatian head and gets into character. Yancy's only responsibility, thankfully, is just to walk down a flight of stairs. He still finds the whole ordeal, short and simple as it may be, to be rather embarrassing, however, and it shows clearly on his face. 

They should be done in a matter of minutes, but Raleigh is so silly on set, he actually unintentionally causes the filming of the minor characters to go on for longer. Both the director and the band members find his antics so amusing, they call for multiple shots of the same scene just so they will have a variety to choose from when it comes time for editing. Meanwhile, in between each new take, Yancy buries his head in his hands and groans. Raleigh, of course, has the time of his life. 

Finally, after about five hours, it's all over. They're invited by the band to remain on set until the music video's completed, but fortunately for Yancy, his younger brother decides that he's tortured the older man enough. After expressing his regrets, Raleigh tells Yancy that it's okay for the both of them to go home. For once, Yancy doesn't play the dutiful older brother card, suggesting that perhaps they should stay. 

A few weeks later, the music video for “The Fox” by the Ylvis brothers gets posted on the Internet and goes viral. By this point, Yancy has forgotten all about it; he had been very eager to bury the memory into the far reaches of his mind. Raleigh, on the other hand, treasures that day as one of the highlights of his life. The minute he gets a text alerting him that the video has been uploaded and is already doing quite well, he drags his brother into the living room to watch. In hindsight though, he probably should have watched the video before showing his older brother. 

Yancy is on the couch, shaking his head, and with his arms folded across his chest. He watches Raleigh fiddle with some wires in an attempt to connect his laptop with their large flat-screen television. 

“So tell me why we can't just watch this on the laptop as is?” Yancy asks. “I have no interest in seeing myself in that ridiculous costume on the big screen.” 

“Oh lighten up, Yance!” Raleigh chuckles. “We'll only be on screen for a blink of a second. More than likely just five seconds, tops.” 

“All the more reason why I think this is pointless,” Yancy grumbles. 

“Ah, there we go!” Raleigh says brightly, completely ignoring his older brother. 

He practically bounces onto the couch next to his brother just after he gets the music video to start. Yancy lets out a long sigh of resignation. 

The childish smile on Raleigh's face gradually dissipates halfway through the first verse. Yancy should have appeared in his mackerel costume right after the singer mentions the sound a duck makes, but Yancy is nowhere in sight and the video cuts immediately to the extra who had been made up to look like a seal. 

When the music video ends, Raleigh brings a closed fist to his mouth and lets out a cough. “Uh...well...! That was funny, wasn't it, Yance?” 

He dares to look at his brother and isn't surprised to see the dark scowl on the older man's face. Raleigh chuckles nervously.

“Um...Yance...?” 

“...I don't believe it,” Yancy says with a huge frown. “They cut me out, didn't they? What the hell! They did! They cut me out! Dude, what the fuck!” 

“Well...uh...look on the bright side!” Raleigh says, a little too chipper. “Looks like your worst fears haven't been actualized after all, eh?” 

“I was in a fish costume!” Yancy says, throwing up his hands. “For _five hours!_ ”

Raleigh can't seem to decide between laughing uncontrollably or running for his life. His lips quiver as he tries to suppress a smile. 

“But I thought you didn't want...!” 

“Don't you get it, kid? That's five hours of my life I'm never getting back!” Yancy exclaims, rounding on his younger brother. “And whose fault was it that we even spent that much time on set anyway?” 

Raleigh throws up his hands defensively. “Whoa, whoa, now wait just a second...!” 

“No! I'm going to kill you! C'mere, kid!” 

Raleigh almost doesn't react in time, he's so busy laughing. He barely manages to move out of the way when Yancy lunges for him, and Raleigh bolts out of the room as fast as he can with his older brother not far behind, charging after him.  
  
Peals of laughter and furious shouting can be heard from outside.  As far as their neighbors are concerned, it's just another typical day in the Becket household.  



	12. Making Out

Sometimes, Yancy gets really absorbed in watching the television. Raleigh likes to be distracting.

Yancy frowns when blonde hair interrupts his line of vision; the show is just getting to the good part, as far as he's concerned. He barely noticed at first that Raleigh had, at some point, moved onto his lap. Now that his head's in the way though, Yancy is gradually finding himself becoming distracted from his program. 

When he tries to duck his head around Raleigh's, the blonde hair follows him. Yancy tries again, moving his head to the other side, only to receive the same result. 

Yancy's ears strain to hear for the resolution to the episode's conflict. His eyes briefly flit down to look at his brother before he tilts his chin upward, trying to see over his brother's head. His brows furrow together slightly when he feels Raleigh's hands roam about his chest. 

“Mm...what are you doing, Rals?” Yancy asks somewhat absently. 

He doesn't see the younger man's slight pout. “Can't you watch this later, Yance?” 

Yancy grunts. “C'mon, Rals...just ten more minutes...! You know I hardly watch this stuff.” 

“ _Fine_...” Raleigh grumbles. 

He lowers his head, and Yancy breathes out a small sigh of relief when hair no longer obstructs his vision. He's just about to find out what one of the characters looks like behind the mask when suddenly he feels teeth gently tug at his lower lip, creating a pleasant tingling sensation. Yancy does his best to keep his eyes on the television, but his brows crease together in a light frown.

“Ra— _mmn_...?” 

Yancy opening his mouth gives Raleigh the opportunity to slip in his tongue. Raleigh smirks a little while kissing his brother and Yancy makes a little noise of frustration as he's forced to tear his eyes away from the screen. 

“Raleigh...! Wait...! Can't we...just...later...?” Yancy says between kisses. “Five more...minutes...! I...swear...!” 

Raleigh chuckles. He can tell he's starting to win his older brother's attention. Yancy squirms a little. 

“Just catch the recap later,” Raleigh says quickly before launching another playful attack, clearly a master of multitasking. “Or read about it online.” 

“Not the...same experience...!” Yancy insists, a slight whine in his voice hinting at his frustration. 

Raleigh snickers mischievously and squeezes his brother's growing hard-on through his pants. Yancy tilts his head back and groans. 

“ _Fuck!_ ” Yancy growls before finally giving Raleigh his full attention, shoving the younger man off him. “God _dammit_ , kid!” 

Raleigh laughs as Yancy pins him to the couch. He moans happily when Yancy crushes their lips together for a long kiss, which gradually leads to something more passionate. 

The show his older brother had been watching continues to play in the background. While Yancy never truly ends up getting the answer to his question, he finds that he doesn't really much care in the end. After all, he's gotten himself something far more entertaining to focus on.


	13. Eating Ice Cream

Yancy tries hard not to let his nervousness show. They somehow got separated from their parents at a local zoo, and Raleigh is crying. They are five and eight years old, respectively. 

“Come on, Rals,” Yancy says, his eyes darting about in hopes he'll catch sight of their parents. “We'll find them, don't worry. Don't cry.” 

Raleigh's responds with incoherent babble. Yancy sighs. 

They pass by an ice cream stand and Yancy gets an idea. He gently guides his brother along with him towards the stand. 

“How much for a sugar cone, please?” Yancy asks. 

The ice cream vendor smiles down at them kindly. “A dollar each. Is everything all right, boys?” 

“Um...” Yancy says, biting his lip as he shifts uneasily on his feet. “Well, actually, we're—” 

“ _Lost_...!” Raleigh wails in despair, breaking out into fresh tears as he tilts his head back and covers his eyes with his free arm. 

Yancy winces slightly and flushes a light pink in embarrassment. The vendor's brows furrow together in concern. 

“Oh dear,” she says. “You are?” 

Yancy lips quiver as he nods; he's about ready to cry too. If it weren't for his desire to appear strong for Raleigh's sake, he probably would have done so already. 

“Well, tell you what,” the young woman says while dispensing some ice cream onto a cone. “Why don't you and your brother enjoy some ice cream cones on this bench here, and I'll see what I can do about helping you find your parents?” 

She hands Yancy the cone she's just made and motions to the bench a few steps away from the cart. Yancy nods. The young lady smiles and makes another cone to hand to Raleigh. 

“And don't worry about paying for these,” she says with a wink as she holds out the second cone to a still-crying Raleigh. “It's on the house.” 

Yancy smiles back shyly and nudges Raleigh a bit with his elbow. “C'mon, Rals...! The nice lady's giving you a free ice cream cone.” 

In trying to stop his tears, Raleigh starts hiccuping. The young woman tries her best not to laugh at how adorable she finds the way Raleigh accepts the gift, because she doesn't want the children to misinterpret her. She walks with the boys over to the bench and squats down after they both have a seat. 

“Now,” the young woman asks while looking at Yancy. “Do you know what the name of your parents are?”

Yancy nods. “Their names are Richard and Dominique Becket.” 

“Very good,” the vendor replies. “And what are your names?” 

“I'm Yancy,” the older boy says before motioning in his younger brother's direction with his cone. “And this is my baby brother, Raleigh.” 

“My, what wonderful names!” the young woman says with a smile. “All right now, Yancy. You both enjoy your cones and make sure you stay here, all right? I'm going to go and see if I can find your parents. I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” 

Yancy nods. “Okay. Thank you very much, Miss...?” 

“Annie,” the young woman says with a smile. “You can just call me Annie. Now I'll be right back.” 

Yancy nods again. He looks over at Raleigh, who is sniffling while eating his cone. Yancy half-smiles and gently gives his brother's hand that he's still holding a squeeze. 

“Feeling a little better, Rals?” he asks. 

Raleigh simply nods with a pout. Yancy chuckles. 

“Good,” he says before taking a bite out of his cone. “Everything'll be all right, Raleigh. You'll see. Don't worry...! That nice lady is going to help us.”

They're successfully reunited with their parents several minutes later. The boys are given two freshly made cones by the vendor running the ice cream stand to celebrate. 


	14. Genderswapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fabricate a game title...and I think that's it. On a random note...do you all want to know what I find hilarious? One of these drabbles...(DRABBLES, mind you, not full-blown chapters like some of my other fics are) takes me A WHOLE DAY TO WRITE. LOL. How incredibly illogical that is—at least in my mind, anyway—just _totally_ baffles me! Lolol. Oh well. Onward, I suppose...

It starts off as a joke, but then turns into a heated competition. Yancy and Raleigh are each using female avatars in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released several months ago called _Kingdom of Lorn_. 

The idea is Raleigh's, of course. Early on in their exploration of their game, he makes a playful suggestion.

“ _If we both made girl characters, I bet mine would have more game than yours would.”_

Yancy frowns at first; hands stopped over his mouse and keyboard. He turns his head and looks over at his brother briefly. 

“What's the wager?” he asks. 

“Loser does whatever the winner wants,” Raleigh says with a grin. 

Yancy quirks an eyebrow. “Whatever the winner wants...?” 

Raleigh grins a bit wider. “ _Whatever_.” 

“Okay,” Yancy says with a nod, deciding he'll bite. “Time frame?” 

“One week.” 

“Alright then, kid...” Yancy says, his lips curling into a smirk. “ _Game on_.” 

They ditch their handsome male warriors for female avatars oozing with sex appeal. Yancy's character is a priestess and Raleigh's is a dancer. There's plenty of trash talk, and the week goes by in a flash. The winner is clear. 

There's a huge smile of triumph plastered on Yancy's face as he watches the television. He and Raleigh are lying on the couch sideways; their heads resting against opposite arm rests. Yancy has his pouting younger brother pinned underneath his legs. Raleigh, of course, being the one with a constant need to be doing something, grumbles after about a half hour. 

“ _Come on_ , Yance...!” Raleigh whines. “You're not even really watching the damn show.”

Yancy's lips twitch slightly at the corners and he keeps his eyes intentionally fixed on the screen. He gently nudges Raleigh's chest with one of his feet, forcing the other man back down on the couch when he tries to rise. 

“ _Shh_... _shh_...” Yancy says, his brows creasing together slightly. “It's just getting to the good part, Rals.” 

Raleigh thumps his head back onto the arm rest and groans. “I call _bullshit_...!” 

Yancy chuckles. “Ah-ah, kid...! We made a deal, remember?” 

“Yeah, well...I still think you cheated,” Raleigh grumbles. “ _Somehow_.” 

“Uh-huh...” Yancy says with a light smirk. “Why don't you just admit it, kid? There's no schooling the master. Everything you know you learned from me.” 

He snickers inwardly when Raleigh pouts more and mutters a few curses under his breath. “Jerk.” 

Yancy grins a little more. “You love me, though.” 

Raleigh snorts. “Besides the point.” 

“If you say so,” Yancy says with a playful shrug. “Ooh...looks like we're about to find out who killed the guy with the tattoo...!” 

There's a hint of exasperation in Raleigh's laughter. “Dude! You don't even know the character's name! How can you say you're watching this?” 

“I say I'm watching it, so I'm watching it, okay?” says Yancy. 

“Yeah, yeah...” Raleigh says, folding his arms over his chest. “ _Whatever_.” 

Yancy laughs. He lets his younger brother squirm about for another several minutes until the show ends. He takes a peek at his brother during a commercial break between programs. Raleigh's head is turned into the couch; Yancy can't tell if the younger man is asleep or just has his eyes closed. 

He clears his throat. “Hey. Rals.” 

No response. He sees the barest twitch of the younger man's eyebrows, however, so Yancy knows it's possible his brother is awake. 

“ _Raleigh_ ,” he tries again. 

The younger man grunts. _“What_...?” 

Yancy chuckles. “You sleeping?” 

“No. I'm dead,” Raleigh deadpans. “Can't you tell? Died of boredom.” 

Yancy's voice shakes a little as he tries to suppress his laughter. “Really...?” 

Raleigh's eyes are still closed and his arms remain crossed as he huffs. “ _Yes_.” 

He still doesn't move when Yancy maneuvers himself into an upright sitting position. The older man stares at his brother for a moment before he shifts his body so that his face is now hovering over Raleigh's. 

“ _Well_...” Yancy says with a grin. “I think I might know just how to fix _that_...” 

Try as he might, Raleigh can't hide the slight upward curl of his lips. “Oh yeah...?” 

“ _Yeah_...” Yancy says as he starts trailing kisses up the side of his brother's neck. “So do I have your attention...?” 

When Raleigh opens his eyes and turns his head to look at his brother, Yancy can see the mischievous twinkle in them. The younger man nods his head slightly upward in challenge; he's unable to prevent a tiny smile from forming on his lips. 

“Go on...” says Raleigh. “I'm listening...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...because I thought Yancy should win at least _once_. And get his revenge for not knowing what happened in that one show he failed to finish before, thanks to his precious brother~ :p


	15. In a Different Clothing Style

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...WELL! Somehow the length of this turned into more of an AU one-shot as opposed to a drabble...but OH WELL, I WAS INSPIRED!! Lolol. I'm pretty sure none of you readers will mind, anyway...
> 
> Another little cameo of my OC's here from my Depth of Obsession series. XD Hope you all enjoy!!

Raleigh knows his brother has sacrificed a lot for his sake, even if the older man will never admit it aloud. The younger man knows that his brother doesn't resent him for any of it, but still, it doesn't stop Raleigh from harboring feelings of guilt. Even if, in the end, it's their absent father who's really the one to blame for the way things have turned out.

There's one activity that Raleigh knows Yancy has always been passionate about since their childhood. Though the older man pretends he doesn't care about it anymore, Raleigh can see right through him; however, he lets his brother keep his secret.

It's why Raleigh sometimes pretends to oversleep every once in a while, but he's careful not to alert his older brother that he does this on purpose, for fear that it will ruin everything. Raleigh doesn't remember _when_ exactly he found out, but he remembers _how_.

The very first time it happened, Raleigh and his brother had spent the night before drinking with Yancy's closest friends, Jeremy and Kyle. In a rare instance of miscalculation, Raleigh had allowed himself to get a little _too_ drunk, and he barely remembered being taken home by his brother. It's one of very few situations where Raleigh ends up sleeping heavily, and he hadn't woken up until well into the afternoon the following day.

What had roused him was the sound of his brother entering the house and talking on the phone. Still half-asleep, he had only managed to catch the last bit of the conversation.

“ _Shit man, I don't know...I did kind of leave him while he was still sleeping,”_ he had heard his brother say. _“Knowing him, he's probably awake right now...most likely pissed off. Damn it...I really probably should've thought to at least leave a note...”_

Raleigh had frowned, wondering where his brother could have gone. Curious, but deciding not to pry for the time being, he had settled on pretending being asleep the minute he heard his brother climb up the stairs. His brother had sighed a small breath of relief upon entering the room, and Raleigh did his best not to shiver upon feeling his brother's cool body against his when he slipped next to him under the covers.

“ _God damn lucky...”_ he had heard his brother mutter before nuzzling the back of Raleigh's neck with his face; Yancy smelled of fresh pine.

In feigning sleep, Raleigh had ended up taking an unplanned nap, and the next time he got up, it was easy to act as if he didn't suspect a thing. Yancy hadn't mentioned anything and Raleigh hadn't asked his older brother any questions. He did call his brother's friend Kyle about it though, the next day.

“ _Oh shit, so you **were** awake?”_ Kyle had asked when Raleigh called him. _“Why didn't you say anything?”_

“ _I didn't want him to think I was mad,”_ Raleigh had said. _“And somehow...I have a feeling he probably wouldn't have been straight with me, anyway.”_

Kyle had sighed. _“Well, yeah...I guess you're right.”_

Raleigh had paused briefly. _“...so where did you guys go then, anyway?”_

What Kyle told Raleigh had surprised the younger man a little. Inspiration would strike him later on, and then Raleigh would ask his brother's two best friends for their cooperation, which they gladly gave.

It leads to Raleigh hiding out in the backseat of Kyle's car several weeks later, parked a short distance away from where Yancy and his friends are, with misty eyes and binoculars in hand. Raleigh honestly can't remember the last time he's ever seen his brother appear quite so happy and carefree. He finds it both beautiful and heartbreaking.

Yancy and his friends look right at home on the baseball field, wearing matching jerseys that they probably bought somewhere on the Internet. Jeremy's on the mound and Kyle's playing catcher. Yancy is up at bat.

Raleigh swears he can hear the loud crack of the bat against baseball when Yancy swings, and he feels his heart flutter when he sees his older brother toss the bat on the ground and starts running bases. Jeremy doesn't even try to tag him out; he just casually goes after the ball and scoops it up, returning to the pitcher's mound the second Yancy reaches home plate. From his vantage point, Raleigh can just barely read the words formed by Kyle's lips.

“ _And the crowd goes wild...!”_

When he sees the three men simultaneously lift their arms and imitate the cheer of an enthusiastic crowd, that's when Raleigh really gets overcome with emotion and his eyes become moist. In that moment, he remembers.

Back when both their parents were still alive, Yancy and his friends were Little Leaguers. Raleigh had always tagged along to watch all of their games, and Yancy had always chattered endlessly about his dreams of becoming the next baseball legend, along with his childhood friends. Those talks diminished shortly after their mother's passing, and they stopped completely after their father had abandoned them. While Jeremy and Kyle did go on to become professional baseball players, Yancy's priorities had changed; he put his heart and soul into raising his younger brother.

Raleigh inwardly berates himself for thinking his brother must have outgrown the sport or simply lost interest. He vows never to forget again.

He's lying down in the backseat when Kyle returns to his car. He and Jeremy had arranged things so that they carpooled with each of the brothers that day, that way Raleigh could get home and still pretend to be asleep and hung over by the time Jeremy brings Yancy back home. Jeremy is still on the field with Yancy, playing catch, just trying to buy the other two men a little time.

Raleigh's crying shamelessly. Kyle starts his engine and chuckles.

“S'the matter, Raleigh?” Kyle asks as he begins to drive them away from the field.

“Sorry man...” Raleigh says, sniffling. “...I can't help it.”

Kyle laughs softly, using his rear-view mirror to look at Raleigh. “Your brother looks damn good in a baseball jersey, doesn't he?”

Raleigh nods. “Yeah...he sure does.”

Kyle smiles. “It's all right, you know.”

Raleigh frowns underneath the arm he has over his eyes. “No. It's _not_. He gave up his dreams because of me...he should be playing the big leagues right now, with you and Jay.”

“Aw, now I would necessarily say that,” Kyle says as he flicks on a turn signal. “Even if things had turned out differently...knowing Yancy, in the end, I don't think he would've had the heart to leave you behind.”

Raleigh sighs. “Well, _that's_ a damn lie...”

“Is it, though?” Kyle asks as they turn onto Raleigh's street.

Raleigh moves his arm and props up on his side. “What're you trying to say, Kyle?”

“I'm _saying_ , that it's possible you might not know your brother as well as you think,” Kyle says with a chuckle as they pull into Raleigh's driveway. “We're here, by the way.”

Raleigh sits up and sighs again. He pats Kyle on the shoulder.

“Thanks man.”

“Don't mention it!” Kyle says with a smile.

“...when are you and Jay leaving again?” Raleigh asks.

“Not for another few weeks,” Kyle says. “Spring training's coming up, though.”

Raleigh nods. “All right. Thanks again, Kyle.”

“Anytime, man.”

Raleigh goes inside his house and quickly gets into his role. Yancy comes in the house and settles into bed beside him roughly an hour later. He almost shivers when he feels his brother's breath against his ear.

“Still asleep, Rals...?” his brother whispers.

Raleigh doesn't respond. He senses his brother shaking his head as he chuckles.

“Like a log...” he hears Yancy quietly murmur.

Raleigh's caught in the act several weeks later when Jeremy accidentally beats him and Kyle back to the house. Yancy raises an eyebrow from where he stands on their front porch when he sees his brother climb out of Kyle's car.

“Raleigh...? When did you get up...?” Yancy asks, looking between his brother and best friend questioningly. “...and when did Kyle have a chance to pick you up?”

The younger man is frozen in horror. “I...uh...er...”

“Well...your brother _has_ kind of been stalking you,” Jeremy says bluntly, rubbing at his nose.

“ _Jeremy_...!” Kyle says with a frown.

“ _What_...?” Jeremy says with a shrug. “It's not a lie, you know...!”

“Yeah, but it ain't the whole truth, either!” Kyle says shaking his head in disapproval. “ _Seriously_ , Jack...you and I are going to have to have a talk later...”

“...is someone going to tell me what in the world is going on here?” Yancy asks, interrupting his friend.

Jeremy scrunches his nose when Kyle shoots him a look. The brunette then turns his attention to Yancy and smiles at him kindly.

“Sure, Yancy,” he says. “I'll fill you in.”

A few hours later, Raleigh and Yancy are lying side-by-side in bed after the older man's friends have gone. Raleigh's face is buried deep into the pillow he's hugging because he's thoroughly embarrassed. Yancy threads his fingers through his younger brother's hair as he tries to comfort the younger man.

“Kyle's got it right, you know, Rals...” Yancy murmurs. “I wouldn't trade all the years I've spent with you for _anything_.”

Raleigh's response is incoherent, muffled by the pillow. Yancy's eyebrows creases together as he chuckles in amusement.

“ _What_...?” he asks. “I can't hear you, kid.”

Raleigh sighs and then turns his head slightly towards Yancy; he peeks at his brother with one eye. Yancy smiles warmly.

“ _There_ he is...!” Yancy says softly.

Raleigh scowls. “ _Shut up_.”

“All right,” Yancy says with a laugh. “You were saying...?”

Raleigh exhales dramatically. “I _said_...that that's probably easy for you to say _now_...and it's probably mostly because you came to terms with the fact that you never really had a _damn_ _choice_.”

Yancy shakes his head, frowning a little. “Well no, I wouldn't say that...”

Raleigh rolls his eyes. “Yeah. _Whatever_...”

Yancy sighs and pulls his brother in close. Raleigh squirms a little in protest. Yancy laughs.

“Come on, kid...! Stop kicking.”

“I mean, _seriously_...! How can you love me?” Raleigh asks, not caring at all how immature and childish he sounds. “I ruined your life...!”

Yancy frowns. “ _Hey!_ ”

The sternness in his tone causes Raleigh to immediately stop struggling. Yancy shakes his head disapprovingly.

“Kiddo,” he says. “ _Stop_.”

Raleigh gently bites down on the inside of his cheek. Yancy sighs.

“ _Look_ , kid...” he says. “I mean it when I say that there isn't anything I'd trade what we have together for...all right?”

Raleigh nods reluctantly and averts his gaze as he concedes. “Yeah, all right...”

“ _Good_ ,” Yancy says with a pleased nod. “Besides, when it comes down to it, I personally think that I have a pretty sweet deal going.”

Raleigh looks up at his brother curiously and raises an eyebrow. “You...you do...?”

Yancy nods affirmatively. “Yeah. I do. How many people out there do you think can actually boast to having exclusive personal time with professional ballplayers without having to win some contest or pay an arm and a leg...?”

Raleigh blinks. “W-well...huh...I guess I didn't really think of it that way.”

“Yeah, well, now you know,” Yancy says with a chuckle. “Not to mention, there's _you_.”

Raleigh's cheeks grow warm. “Y-yeah...? W-what about me...?”

“Come on, kid...” Yancy says with a small smile as he brings his face in closer. “You _know_...”

Raleigh makes a little noise of contentment when Yancy presses their lips together for a kiss. A brief silence settles between them after they break away. Raleigh stares intently at his brother's chest for a few minutes before he finally gets the nerve to look into his brother's eyes.

“Hey, Yance...?” Raleigh asks.

Yancy raises both eyebrows. “Hm?”

The blood starts flowing to the younger man's cheeks again. “I was thinking, well...I don't know...would you...?”

Yancy tilts his head to the side. “...what is it, Rals? Spit it out. It's okay.”

Raleigh clears his throat. “ _Well_...I was just wondering if maybe, you know...you might want to play catch sometime, or something, with me?”

It takes the older man only a second to process what he's heard. Yancy's lips curl into a small smile.

“Yeah...?” he asks.

“...yeah,” Raleigh says with a shy smile as he nods. “And you can wear your jersey...”

Raleigh hadn't meant to make it sound the way it did, but Yancy decides to give him hell for it anyway. The older man suddenly grins widely.

“Oh, _I get it_ ,” he says teasingly. “So you've got a uniform kink, eh, kid?”

“What? No!” Raleigh says, his face turning bright red.

Yancy laughs and grabs his brother before the younger man can escape from bed. “It's all right if you do, kid. I don't mind! C'mere...!”

“Augh...! _No_...!” Raleigh says, laughing despite feeling embarrassed as he struggles to break free. “Let go!”

“Nah...” Yancy says with a smirk. “I think I'll let go when I feel like it.”

“Ugh!” Raleigh groans. “ _Jerk_...!”

“ _I love you_ ,” Yancy says, smiling wildly as he tries to give Raleigh another kiss. “ _Umph_...!”

He flinches when Raleigh jabs at his chest with his elbow. Yancy laughs.

“Hey! That ain't fighting fair!” he complains.

“Well, you started it!” Raleigh says.

Yancy quirks an eyebrow. “You tryin' to fight?”

Raleigh responds by giving him another jab. Yancy quickly pins his brother down on the bed, a huge smile on his face. He purposefully cracks his neck.

“Oh _it's on_ , kid,” he says.

“Ah! Wait! Yance!” Raleigh says, laughing as his older brother starts tickling him. “Ack! Stop! _Yancy_...!”

The older man shakes his head. “Nope! Too late, kid!”

“ _Oh my God...!_ ” Raleigh practically squeals as Yancy subjects him to merciless tickle-torture.

They tumble around on the bed, laughing all the while as they wrestle. Eventually, at some point, one of them will miscalculate in their movements, causing the both of them to roll over a little too far and crash off the bed onto their—thankfully—carpeted floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...for some reason I found myself just picturing my OC characters and Yancy in baseball uniforms, playing the sport. I don't know! It just seemed to fit! Hope you all liked it! I sure had a lot of fun writing this one. :) And, of course, for anyone that cares...I'm a fan of the New York Yankees. Lolol. :p


	16. During Their Morning Ritual(s)

They're like night and day. 

Raleigh is always the first one up, always chipper. Sometimes he doesn't go to bed at all, whether due to adrenaline or something else, Yancy doesn't know; he has yet to find the true source of his younger brother's seemingly endless supply of energy. 

Every morning since Yancy became a freshman in high school, Raleigh has taken it upon himself to take care of his brother in the morning. He gets up at five-thirty—if he happened to have gone to bed at all—and goes through the motions of getting ready before making moves to roll his older brother out of bed. 

Secretly, the younger Becket likes doting on his brother as much as Yancy likes to spoil him back. Raleigh enjoys doing so in the morning especially because he finds the older man to be absolutely adorable in his groggy state. 

Waking the older man up in the first place always proves to be the most difficult part of the routine. Raleigh's discovered, over the years, that the most effective way in rousing his brother is to go about it differently each day. He wakes Yancy up with the smell of coffee on Mondays, lots of kisses on Tuesdays, obnoxiously loud rock music on Wednesdays, getting into bed with him on Wednesday night so he can literally roll the older man out of bed Thursday morning, and saves the best blow jobs for Fridays. Since Yancy doesn't work weekends, Raleigh lets the older man sleep in on those days, content to just snuggle in his brother's arms. 

A variety of methods means receiving several different reactions. Yancy's responses range from childish mumbling to a stream of curses—the latter occurring most often on Wednesday mornings. If Raleigh _had_ to choose a favorite day though, it would probably be the first day of the week, though of course Friday and the weekends come in extremely close to taking first place. 

Today is Monday. Raleigh smiles as he holds a half-filled coffee mug just close enough so his older brother can take a whiff. 

“Rise and shine, Yance,” Raleigh whispers. 

The older man groans and Raleigh quickly pulls away the mug when Yancy turns his body to avoid accidentally burning him. Raleigh stares at his brother's backside in amusement as Yancy buries his face into a pillow and mumbles incoherently into it. The younger man chuckles and sets the mug on a nightstand by Yancy's bed. He leans down towards his brother and shakes the older man's shoulder gently. 

“C'mon, Yance,” Raleigh says. “Time to get up...! You're going to be late for work.” 

The older man groans again and rolls over so he's facing Raleigh. The younger man waits, knowing his brother will eventually rise, and after a few minutes, Yancy does. When his older brother holds out a hand, Raleigh guides it to the handle of the still-warm coffee mug. Yancy brings it to his lips and takes a few sips; his eyes still closed. When he's finished, he lowers his arm and Raleigh helps him set the mug back down on the nightstand. 

“All right,” Raleigh says, taking hold of his brother's hand. “Time to hit the shower, bro. Come on, let's go.” 

He grins as he drags his grumbling brother to the bathroom. He has Yancy sit down on the toilet seat with its lid down as he warms up the water coming out of the shower head. Sometimes, Raleigh likes to amuse himself by asking his brother questions, even though he knows none of the answers will make sense. 

“Hey, Yance?” 

“...hn?” 

“You awake yet?” 

“Nn...” 

“Want breakfast?” 

“Hm...” 

“Yeah?” 

“ _Mm_...!” 

Raleigh laughs. “Okay.” 

The older man's eyes are still closed. His elbow is propped up on the sink and his head is resting against his arm. Raleigh sticks his hand underneath the flowing water from the shower head and checks the temperature. The younger man nods to himself. 

“All right. It's warm,” Raleigh says as he turns back around and takes his older brother's hand, the one resting on his thigh. “Come on! Let's get you all cleaned up!”

Yancy grumbles some more as the younger man helps undress him and reluctantly steps into the shower. Raleigh assists the older man by giving him a bar of soap, a few drops of shampoo, and some conditioner as Yancy washes himself. 

Eventually, the older man is dressed in a fresh set of clothes and sitting at the dining table, eating from a bowl of cereal. His eyes are open now, but they're not really looking at anything and he still looks pretty tired. The majority of their meal is spent in comfortable silence. The older man is finally beginning to shake off feelings of sleep about ten minutes before he actually has to be out the door and head to work. 

Raleigh hands Yancy his briefcase shortly after the older man has slipped his shoes on. Yancy rubs at an eye with the palm of one hand as he accepts what's being given to him with the other. The younger man is all smiles as he reaches in to pop Yancy's collar and help the older man with his tie.   


“Have a good day at work, okay?” Raleigh says as he makes his final adjustments.

Yancy nods. “M'kay...” 

He meets the younger man halfway when he leans in for a quick peck on the lips. Raleigh hands him a jacket and Yancy lets it drape over his free arm. 

“Love you, Yance!” his younger brother says cheerily. 

The expression in the older man's eyes is warm, and he gives Raleigh the best smile he can manage at the moment. It comes out a little lopsided. 

“Love you too, kiddo,” he says. “See you when I get back.” 

In seconds, he's turned and out the door. Like every Monday morning, he misses the shy smile and light blush that forms on his brother's face shortly after he's gone. The way they part each day differs just like the way their days start, but there is indeed a set pattern to their weekly routine that Raleigh can count on. 

It's always the same form of goodbye, but Raleigh finds that he never tires of it. No matter how many times he's experienced it.


	17. Spooning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO...I think I'm just going to be honest right now and admit that I have a thing for Diego Klattenhoff. LOL. Actually, I think I have a thing for Canadians in general. Lolol. So yes...when I write...sometimes I shamelessly imagine myself in Raleigh's place instead............................
> 
> *Coughs* 
> 
> ANYWAY!! Lolol, now that _that's_ out in the open, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. More on the way. Can you believe that there's only 13 left? Phew! We've come a long way!! :D

Raleigh loves being the little spoon, but he's too embarrassed to admit it. At some point, Yancy realizes this and finds that he enjoys messing with his younger brother as much as possible. 

Tonight, for instance, he's trying his damned hardest not to smile or convulse with laughter. Especially since Raleigh thinks he's asleep. Yancy is purposefully on his side, knees slightly curled towards his chest, and hands clutching his pillow. He hears Raleigh behind him, muttering softly. 

He finds it almost impossible to suppress his grin when he feels Raleigh hoist an arm and a leg over his body in preparation for an attempt to turn the older man over. It's predictable, but Yancy would be lying if he said he didn't find it the least bit endearing; it's become a bit of an evening ritual for them on weekends. 

“ _Seriously_ , Yance...” he hears Raleigh grumble, “would it kill you to stop being so stubborn? I think you're the only person in the whole wide world that's this damn glued to the bed when sleeping...” 

Yancy snickers inwardly while listening to Raleigh grunt as he tugs at the older man's stubbornly unmoving frame. Finally, either deciding the cause is futile or due to exhaustion, Raleigh settles for snuggling against Yancy and burying his face into the older man's back. This is all while complaining that it's Yancy's fault that his back is going to be cold. When he makes a discontented noise, Yancy can imagine the younger man's pouting expression. 

He waits until he hears Raleigh's breathing even out and he's sure that his younger brother is asleep before slowly turning himself around. Carefully, Yancy extricates himself from the younger man's hold and adjusts their positions gradually so that Raleigh's body is tucked neatly in his arms. Then, the older man spends several minutes quietly admiring his younger brother's peaceful features before truly falling asleep with a smile on his face that matches the one that appears on Raleigh's as he unconsciously hugs his older brother more tightly. 

Deep down, Yancy actually does like being the big spoon. He finds that he enjoys teasing his darling baby brother a little more, however. 

Just a tad.


	18. Doing Something Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Ishyko. They should know why. Lolol. :p

Raleigh's quite used to winning their brotherly competitions, but he doesn't realize that a considerable amount of the time it's because his older brother _lets_ him. For the most part, the older man doesn't mind doing so. There's one game, however, that Yancy avoids playing with Raleigh at all costs, because it's the one thing the older man absolutely can't stand to lose. 

_Mario Party_. Raleigh figures this out by accident one Saturday afternoon. 

The Beckets are spending time with Yancy's childhood friends at Kyle's grandparent's house, and the brunette's whipped out his latest gaming system; the most updated version of the Combat Jaeger console along with the latest copy of _Mario Party_. He, Jeremy, and Raleigh are busy playing a racing mini-game when Yancy walks into the living room from outside, bringing in a few beers he's just gotten out from the cooler that's out on the deck. 

Raleigh looks up at his brother and grins. He motions towards the space beside him with an elbow. 

“C'mon, Yance! Have a seat! Join us!” 

Yancy chuckles. “Sure, kid. I'll sit down...but I think I'm just going to sit back and watch, if you don't mind.” 

Raleigh blinks. “Huh? Why?” 

He misses the knowing look that gets exchanged between Kyle and Jeremy. The brunette jabs the dark-haired man lightly in the ribs when Jeremy snickers. Yancy flashes his two friends a warning look before quickly smiling at his brother and settling in beside the younger man. He shrugs casually. 

“Not really in the mood for a game right now,” he says, but he kicks himself inside immediately upon saying it; the minute he says it, he knows this excuse isn't going to fly. 

And it doesn't. Raleigh's brows crease together as he frowns.

“What? What are you talking about, Yance?” Raleigh asks, eying his brother curiously. “You _love_ playing video games. In fact...? I don't think you've ever turned down a chance to play one.”

“Ah...! Well...” Yancy says, his smile faltering a bit. “Er...actually, the truth is...I don't really know how to play this game.” 

“Oh! Is _that_ all?” Raleigh says with a grin. “Then no problem! It's real easy, right guys?” 

Raleigh turns to look at Jeremy and Kyle, who are doing their best not to laugh because Yancy is shaking his head behind the younger man frantically. 

“Guys...?” Raleigh asks, tilting his head slightly in confusion. “Is there something wrong?” 

“Nah, we're fine!” Jeremy says a little too quickly, and Kyle is smiling just a bit too brightly. 

Raleigh quirks an eyebrow. “Er...then why do you both look kind of constipated?” 

“Shit, c'mon, Yancy!” Jeremy says, shaking his head and tossing his friend a spare controller. “Just play, man! What harm could it do?” 

If looks could kill, the dark-haired man would have probably disintegrated from the glare Yancy shot at him. The blonde caught the wireless controller in hand and nodded reluctantly. 

“All right...” he says. “Fine.” 

Raleigh looked even more confused. “Uh...am I missing something here, guys?” 

“Nah, don't worry about it,” Jeremy says with a slight grin. “Game on, yeah?” 

Raleigh blinks. “Oh...uh...sure.” 

He looks over at his brother questioningly. Yancy appears to be sulking and doesn't really offer much of an explanation. At the last second, Raleigh hears Kyle and Jeremy mutter a few words to each other. 

“I actually think he'll be able to hold back. It _is_ Raleigh, after all...” 

Jeremy smirks. “You're giving him too much credit, man...this is _Mario Party_.” 

Kyle snorts softly. “Bet you twenty.” 

“Oh, I'll do you one better...” Jeremy says. 

He leans over and whispers something in Kyle's ear that makes the brunette's face quickly turn bright red. When Jeremy pulls back, he looks mighty pleased with himself and gives Kyle a flirtatious wink. 

The brunette stutters. “O-oh...” 

The impatient tapping coming from one of Yancy's feet distracts Raleigh from wondering what the dark-haired man must have said to Kyle. Raleigh wonders why his brother seems so antsy. 

“Well? We going to get the ball rolling or what?” Yancy asks. 

Kyle nods. “Which mini-game?” 

“ _Racing_ ,” Jeremy says before Yancy can suggest something else. 

The blonde scowls. Kyle leans his head back and groans affectionately. 

“ _Jack_...!”

“What?” Jeremy says, an innocent look on his face. 

Raleigh finds himself caught between amusement and bemusement. _Clearly_ there's a running gag here that he's missing, and he wants in on the joke. Of course, he's never been good about being careful when making his wishes. 

Yancy nods tightly. “Fine. Racing it is. Let's rumble.” 

In seconds, they've all locked in their characters and the race is on. At first, nothing seems _too_ out of the ordinary. Raleigh's explaining the controls to his brother, and Yancy nods occasionally to show that he's listening. Meanwhile, Raleigh's Mario is competing with Jeremy's Luigi for first place; Kyle's Yoshi seems more like he's taking a leisurely ride around the track than actively racing. 

Kyle's in last place. Yancy's got third. Raleigh and Jeremy bounce between the first two slots. 

Then things get interesting. 

Out of nowhere, Princess Peach blows everyone out of the water. Initially, Raleigh can't believe what he's seeing on screen. He'd left his brother to his own devices after going over the basic controls and had stopped paying attention to Yancy's character shortly thereafter. Like the way most of their games went, Raleigh had figured his older brother would be the furthest thing from a threat. 

A bit stunned, Raleigh is only just barely keeping up. He's yet to notice that Jeremy's purposefully allowed his character to fall back, content to join Kyle's Yoshi in a leisurely motorized stroll around the racing track. Jeremy's got a smug look on his face and Kyle's cheeks are once again flushed, beet red. 

The gleeful look on his brother's face is on Raleigh can't ignore. Yancy's eyes sparkle in triumph and he lets out a whoop when he crosses the finish line well before Raleigh crosses over. 

“ _When did he get so good at games...?”_ Raleigh wonders. 

It doesn't take him long to arrive at a reasonable explanation. It hits him like a bullet train while Yancy's doing a mini-victory dance, and suddenly Raleigh finds himself wondering how he'd never realized it before. 

“You've been holding back, haven't you?” Raleigh asks his brother. 

Yancy suddenly freezes and if the younger man hadn't been so bewildered, he might have laughed at the expression on the older man's face; totally caught off-guard and red-handed. _Priceless_. 

The older man unceremoniously drops his controlling onto the couch as if he had been holding a piece of hot coal. He holds up his hands.

“Look...Rals...that was just...beginners luck, you know?” he says weakly. 

Raleigh shakes his head, a small, amused smile forming on his lips. “In fact...you've _always_ been holding back, haven't you? I mean, _come on_ , Yance...! There's no way someone gets _this_ good, all of a sudden!” 

Yancy sighs. “Look...kid...I...! It's just...! It's _Mario Party_...!” 

The younger man resists the urge to throw back his head and laugh. He shakes his head, unable to keep the amusement out of his eyes. 

“It's _fine_ , Yance,” says Raleigh. “ _Really_.” 

The older man smiles at him sheepishly. Raleigh grins.

“Honestly?” he says. “I think it's sweet.” 

Yancy turns pink. Right then, Jeremy clears his throat and rises from his seat. 

“ _Well_...” he says, “if y'all don't mind...Kyle and I've got someplace to be.” 

The brothers are momentarily distracted by Jeremy taking Kyle by the hand and forcing him up from the couch. Kyle turns to Raleigh and Yancy, spluttering as Jeremy starts dragging him away. 

“U-uh, let my g-grandparents know that I'll uh...be back later...all right...?” 

Raleigh recovers first and nods. “S-sure, Kyle...uh...we'll see ourselves out right after...?” 

Kyle nods. “Yeah, that's fine...or, you know, you could stay here, I'm sure my grandparents won't mind—” 

“Yadda, yadda...they can take of themselves, Kyle. They're big boys,” Jeremy says. “Stop being such a mom.” 

“But...!” 

The two men are out of the room before Kyle can finish his next sentence. After a brief moment of silence, Raleigh and Yancy look back at each other and exchange shy smiles. 

“So...” Raleigh starts.

Yancy rubs at the back of his neck. “...I guess we should talk, yeah?”

“Probably,” Raleigh says with a nod. “Why don't we do that at home though?”

Yancy nods back.  “Yeah.  Sounds like a plan.”


	19. In Formal Wear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still can't get over how long it takes me to write one of these drabbles. Lolol. Almost as long as—if not longer than—a chapter of one of my longer stories! Smh. Oh well. At least I managed to plug out two today. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to produce a third, but the way things are looking right now, that doesn't seem very likely...
> 
> As usual, hope you all enjoy! :D

It starts as a bit of a game, but of course that's how things between the two men usually seem to go. Again, Raleigh is the one who comes up with the idea—they're currently attending the wedding reception for one of Kyle's socialite friends, Ethan Bentley. Raleigh's decided that it's the perfect setting for a rematch of their Internet pickup competition.

“So you managed to flock hordes of interested male gamers hiding behind an avatar that more than likely doesn't look like them and a computer screen,” Raleigh had said cheekily as they walked towards the building where the reception was taking place. “But are your charms still effective here on the 'real' plane?”

Yancy had smirked slightly back in response. “That a challenge, kid?”

“What do _you_ think?”

“Well, all right then, kid,” Yancy had said with a nod. “Prepare to get schooled by the master. _Again_.”

“Yeah, we'll see about _that_ ,” Raleigh had replied with a snort.

It's an even playing field for a while. What surprises Raleigh though, and perhaps irritates him a bit, just a little, is the way Yancy seems to capture the interest of those around him with what seems like hardly any effort at all. While Raleigh's busy actively flirting with and chatting up all those who appear openly interested, he notices that his brother has a much subtler way of doing things.

A brush of fingertips against an elbow. Catching someone after they've tripped, to prevent them from falling flat on their face. Softly whispered words in one woman's ear and openly laughing at the joke made by another. Raleigh's fine with all that though. Sure, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't bothered in the slightest that the ladies flocked around his brother seemed to be receiving his older brother's tender treatment, but Raleigh supposed that it was fair; after all, they hadn't really set any clear rules regarding methods. He had to admit too, his brother looks stunning in a suit and bow tie.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Raleigh catches his brother giving some woman this _smile._ He finds himself to be just as surprised as the woman Yancy's smiling at when he turns to confirm that the older man is doing exactly what Raleigh suspects his brother is doing.

And Yancy is. Whether the older man realizes it or not, whatever the younger woman said has managed to elicit such a genuine reaction from Yancy. It's a look so full of love and it's one that Raleigh was sure of—at least until that very moment, anyway—that the older man reserved just for him.

To say that the younger man isn't pleased would be a gross understatement. Raleigh narrows his eyes.

He gracefully excuses himself from his entourage of admirers and makes his way over to his brother in rather brusque strides. Yancy barely has a chance to register the look of warning in the eyes of the woman he is speaking with, when she spots a very cross-looking Raleigh beelining for the older man, and so he's somewhat unprepared when Raleigh grabs his arm and spins him around.

“Come with me?” Raleigh says through slightly gritted teeth before the older man can ask him what's wrong.

One look at the younger man's face tells Yancy it's probably in his best interest not to argue. He nods.

“Uh, yeah, sure...all right,” he says. “Where are we going?”

“Just come,” Raleigh says as he drags his older brother away from his puzzled admirer. “We're getting out of here.”

Yancy frowns. “But the grooms—”

“Are both Kyle's friends, right, Yance?” Raleigh says, still tugging his brother along and not looking back. “Not yours, or mine. I'll bet you anything they won't really miss us—there's _hundreds_ of people at this party...”

“Still...don't you think it's rude?” Yancy asks. “Oof...!”

He grunts when he accidentally runs into Raleigh's backside; the younger man has stopped suddenly. Raleigh drops hold of his brother, turns on his heels and frowns. They're standing outside the building in the empty parking lot, not a fellow guest or valet in sight.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Raleigh asks. “You're trying to preach to me about etiquette after pulling what you did in there just now?”

Yancy shakes his head. “What are you even talking about, Rals...?”

“I mean, _in there_...!” Raleigh says, gesturing frantically towards the building. “With the women, and the flirting, and—”

Yancy raises an eyebrow. “...I thought we'd agreed upon seeing who could sway the most hearts before the night was done?”

Raleigh growls a bit in frustration. “Well _yeah_...! We _were_...”

“But then what?” Yancy asks, shaking his head. “It's not like I was planning on following through with any of them or anything.”

“Ugh! I _know that_ ,” Raleigh says, frowning. “But then you like, did that _thing_ with that last girl, you know?”

“ _What_...?” Yancy asks, perplexed. “What thing? There's a thing? I do a thing?”

“Yes!” Raleigh says, throwing his hands up in the air. “You do! A thing!”

“Mm...so what exactly _is_ this 'thing'...?” Yancy asks, trying his best not to succumb to ill-timed laughter; he's finding this oddly amusing, even if he doesn't completely understand what's going on yet.

Raleigh scowls. “ _The way you_ _smiled_ _at her_ , Yancy!”

“The way I... _smiled_...?” Yancy asks. “Rals...I think you're overreacting a little bit, kiddo. I smiled at _a lot_ of people tonight.”

“Well, _yeah_ , sure, I get that,” Raleigh grumbles. “But not like how you did with _her_...”

Yancy frowns. “Uh...how do you mean?”

Raleigh sighs. “ _You know_...it's like...well, I guess I thought you only really smiled like that for _me_...”

It takes a second, but soon everything clicks. Yancy's lips round.

“ _Oh_...”

Raleigh snorts. “Yeah. ' _Oh_.' Glad you're finally up to speed, Yance.”

He frowns when the older man starts laughing. Raleigh shakes his head disapprovingly.

“What's so funny?” he asks.

“Aw, _kid_...! You...!” Yancy says, doubling over with laughter. “I'm sorry! It's just...! I think it might help if you heard the context of that conversation...”

Raleigh folds his arms over his chest. “Y-yeah...? Well...uh...care to enlighten me, then?”

“Yeah, sure, hold on,” Yancy says, holding up a finger. “Just give me a second... _hoo_ boy...!”

The younger man isn't sure he likes the mischievous glint in his brother's eyes when Yancy seems to recover from his fits of laughter. He covers his nervousness by tapping at the ground with his foot. Yancy chuckles.

“Well, for starters, she made a comment or two about how gentlemanly she thought I was,” he begins.

“Yeah, and...?” Raleigh asks, still tapping his foot impatiently.

Yancy grins. “Oh, well, you know...then she gets to talking about how handsome I look in my tuxedo... _actually_ , I think the term she used was _dashing_...hah! Who uses that term anymore, am I right?”

Raleigh, of course, is not at all amused. “Uh-huh...and then...? This story _does_ go somewhere, _right_...?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to that,” Yancy says with the wave of a hand. “So then she asks me.”

Raleigh glares at him. “Yeah? Well? What did she ask?”

“Oh, you know...” Yancy says, casually rubbing at his nose. “She just wanted to know whether or not I was single...”

“And you said...?”

Yancy chuckles and looks straight into his brother's eyes, his expression warm, but serious. He answers the younger man in a low voice.

“Well...I told her, that I already had someone special,” Yancy says with the same smile Raleigh had seen the older man give the woman from before. “And that I loved _him_ very much.”

For a minute, Raleigh finds that he's been rendered speechless. Finally, after blinking a few times, he finally returns to his senses and regains his ability to speak.

“ _Oh_...” he says, blushing lightly. “So you, um...you said that to her like...just like that...?”

Yancy laughs softly and nods. He reaches out a hand and cups part of the younger man's face.

“ _Yeah_ , Rals... _just like that_...” Yancy says, still wearing the same loving smile. “I'd like to say you interrupted us at right about the point it was probably starting to sink in for her that I just admitted that I was _gay_...”

Raleigh's face grew a shade darker. “Y-yeah, but you...you...!”

Yancy effectively shuts him up with a quick peck on the lips. He's got both hands on his younger brother's face now, and he's running his thumbs back and forth across Raleigh's cheeks. Yancy gives the younger man a look of apology.

“Sorry, kid,” Yancy says with a slight shrug. “To be honest, I wasn't really thinking while I was telling that woman those words...whatever you saw in there...all I can say is, that wasn't at all planned. It was just a natural reaction...you know? I guess that's how I must look like all the time when I talk about you to other people...”

Suddenly, Raleigh just wants to crawl away into a hole and hide. Or at the very least, disappear. Perhaps even wipe his brother's memory of the last several minutes.

The younger man stumbles over his speech. “W-well...I-I-I...”

Yancy just laughs, takes a step back, and holds out an arm. He tilts his head slightly in the direction of the building they had come out of.

“Why don't we go back in, huh, kid?” Yancy asks.

Raleigh can only nod demurely and takes hold of his brother's proffered limb. Yancy chuckles and they begin their walk back inside.

Just before they make it back into the main ballroom where the reception is being held, Yancy stops them both right in front of the door and turns to look at Raleigh. He plants a quick kiss on the younger man's forehead. Yancy smiles.

“Love you, kiddo,” he says softly, eyes filled with loving warmth. “Now how about we call off our little bet and just enjoy the rest of our time at this reception, hm...?”

Raleigh simply nods in response. He's all too happy to agree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So initially I had this huge long thing with another Kyle and Jeremy cameo, and even a brief blip of Ethan and Nathaniel, but then I realized there wasn't _nearly_ enough of Raleigh and Yancy, so I just ended up going with this version of the mini-prompt instead, lolol. Oh well! XD


	20. Dancing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT...! ANOTHER CHAPTER!!!! Lolol. This one's super short, but hey! This is a drabble set...! It's allowed!! :p
> 
> Three updates in one day~! It's been a while, I think, since I've felt this accomplished. What's my record? I can't remember. I think it was early on in this fic, though. I remember I was posting things left and right at first.
> 
> ONLY TEN CHAPTERS LEFT!! Can you believe it?! So crazy!! Stay tuned, my dears~! More is on the way!! :D

Yancy never ceases to surprise him. After a slight misunderstanding at some point during the middle of Kyle's friend's wedding reception, Yancy sweeps Raleigh onto the dance floor when couples are invited to join the newlyweds for a time of dancing. The first few songs are slow waltzes; the fun, upbeat music will be coming later. 

Raleigh stares at his brother in wonder as Yancy spins them around the room gracefully. The younger man shakes his head. 

“Since when do you know how to dance...?” Raleigh asks. 

The older man shrugs casually. “Might've taken a lesson or two.” 

“Okaaay...?” Raleigh says slowly, arching an eyebrow. “And when exactly did you have _time_ for _that_...?” 

Yancy chuckles and gives his younger brother a wink. “A man's allowed to have his secrets, doesn't he?”

His younger brother snorts. “ _Hah!_ Yeah...actually, I think that's _magicians_ , Yance...and you're _definitely_ not the next Houdini— _ah_...!”

Raleigh blushes as soon as Yancy tilts him back unexpectedly and catches him off-guard. Yancy grins down at him impishly. 

“And for my next trick...” Yancy whispers playfully. “I'm going to steal my precious Raleigh's heart...!” 

Raleigh groans softly, but he's smiling all the same. “You can be cheesy as hell sometimes...you know that?” 

Yancy pulls the younger man in close so that their noses are almost touching. He shrugs one of his shoulders slightly. 

“Hey, it works though, doesn't it?” Yancy says with a smirk. 

Raleigh snorts. “Shut up...” 

Yancy shrugs again and smiles. “Sure.”

The older man quickly leans forward, closing what little gap there is between their lips and the two of them share a sweet kiss. 


	21. Cooking/Baking

Yancy's the chef, but his skills in the kitchen are more the result of their circumstances than the blossoming of natural talent. He's spent years perfecting dishes that appeal to his younger brother's taste buds perfectly.

He's prepared cookies on a sheet for baking at the same time he has the main course running. After a minor incident with setting a portable oven on fire, Raleigh's been banned from Yancy's kitchen indefinitely while edibles are being made.

Yancy chuckles to himself when he hears his brother's slightly muffled voice come through the door. “You sure you don't need help...?”

“Pretty sure!” Yancy says, stirring some pasta sauce in a pot over the stove. “Just relax, Rals! Watch a show or something.”

The thud he hears can only be Raleigh's forehead thumping against the closed door. “Come on, Yance...! That was _nine years ago_...! I was in _middle school_...! Give me a damn break! I'm old enough to drink now!”

“And you were old enough then to theoretically be capable of not burning the whole house down,” Yancy says with a smile. “You almost did though, didn't you?”

Raleigh groans. “That was _one time_...! People make mistakes, right? How else do we learn?”

Yancy laughs. “ _Hah_...! You're just hungry and want a little taste of what I've got going on in here right now, don't you?”

Silence. Then, “... _maybe_...?”

Yancy snickers. “Yeah, all right kid, fine. Come on in. Don't touch anything, though.”

Raleigh bursts dramatically into the kitchen and sniffs the air. “ _Mm_...! Smells good, Yance!”

“Yeah? Well, it won't be ready for taste testing for another few minutes,” says Yancy.

“Can I help with anything?” Raleigh asks.

Yancy snorts. “Not on your life, kid.”

Raleigh frowns. “ _Come on_ , Yancy! I swear I won't bring Armageddon to your kitchen.”

Yancy smiles at his brother and lets out a small sigh. “All right, kid...all right...how about we have you do something easy then?”

Raleigh shrugs. “Sure, whatever. Baby steps, right? This way I can prove myself...”

Yancy laughs softly, amused. “Why do you want to help so bad, anyhow? Most people wouldn't mind kicking back and relaxing, I think...”

“C'mon, Yance...you know I'm not really good at sitting still,” Raleigh says, before mumbling. “Besides...I like doing things together with you...”

The younger man blushes as he says so, and of course Yancy can't help finding his brother endearing. He tilts his head in the direction of the cookie dough pieces that are ready for the oven.

“Stick those in the oven for me, kid. The oven should be hot and ready for 'em anyhow. Set a timer for about twenty minutes. That should do it—they should be ready to be pulled out then. Sound easy enough?”

Raleigh nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! Don't worry. I've got this...!”

Yancy chuckles and returns his attention to the pasta he's making. “M'counting on you, kid...!”

Some things never change, Yancy realizes with fondness as Raleigh starts hovering beside him shortly after sticking the cookies into the oven. The older man finds himself recalling precious memories of his younger brother always sticking close to him, always curious about whatever Yancy happens to be doing.

The older man lifts a strand of spaghetti from out the pot and holds it out towards his brother. “Want a bite?”

Raleigh smiles. “Sure!”

Yancy watches his brother slurp it up. “How is it?”

Raleigh gives him a thumbs up. “Tastes good!”

Yancy snorts. “Yeah, like you'd know.”

“Hey!”

Yancy laughs and tries a piece himself. He nods.

“Yeah, that seems done. Let's check out the sauce.”

He lets Raleigh taste that too. The younger man grins.

“Perfect!” he says. “It's sweet.”

“Just the way you like it, right?” Yancy says with a wink. “God, though...wish I knew where in the hell you got that sweet tooth of yours...hey! How many minutes left on the cookies?”

Raleigh glances over his shoulder at the oven timer while Yancy starts turning everything off at the stove so he can begin putting the spaghetti into bowls. Raleigh looks back.

“Nineteen minutes and forty-five seconds,” Raleigh says.

“Good,” Yancy says absently as he prepares Raleigh's bowl. “You just stuck it in, right?”

Raleigh nods. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Yancy says, holding a bowl out to Raleigh. “Here's yours. Take that to the living room.”

“What about the cookies?” Raleigh asks, accepting the bowl.

Yancy laughs. “It'll be fine. We'll be able to hear the timer from the living room.”

“All right.”

In a few minutes, both men are settled on their living room couch, bowls in hand. They've got the television running while they eat. They make a little small talk about the show they're watching during commercial breaks.

A few minutes later, Yancy frowns. He tilts his head back slightly and sniffs the air. Raleigh looks at his older brother curiously.

“Something wrong, Yance?”

“I don't know...” Yancy says, shaking his head. “Say...doesn't it smell like something's burning, to you?”

“Huh?” Raleigh says, frowning himself as he also starts sniffing at the air. “Oh...you know what...? Yeah...it kind of does...”

Yancy sets his bowl down on the table in front of them and thinks for a moment, his brows furrowed in conversation. He taps a finger against the side of his bowl.

“Wait a minute...” Yancy says, slowly turning to look at Raleigh. “Before. When I asked you about the cookies. You said something like nineteen minutes and—”

“Forty-something seconds, yeah,” Raleigh says with a nod.

Yancy frowns.  "Yeah, that's what I thought, except...wasn't that like, a while ago though...?  This show's been running for at least a half an hour..."

"Yeah?" Raleigh says.  "So wha— _oh_.”

His eyes widen. At the same time, Yancy smacks the back of a hand to his forehead and groans.

“ _Shit_...!” they say, simultaneously; both men scramble out of their seats and race towards the kitchen.

The minute Yancy pushes open the kitchen door, smoke billows into the living room. Soon, the obnoxious fire hazard warning goes off.

“Holy _fuck_ , Raleigh...!” Yancy groans. “Who sets an oven timer for _cookies_ at _twenty hours_...?!”

“I'm sorry, Yance!” Raleigh says, hurriedly opening up windows and trying to fan out the smoke. “I didn't know...!”

“You're _never_ allowed to set foot in this kitchen again to make anything that isn't already made or something, like cereal,” Yancy says, shaking his head. “Understand? I don't even trust you with the damn microwave...!”

“It was a simple mistake!” Raleigh exclaims. “It won't happen again! I swear!”

“Already did!” Yancy fires back. “This _was_ your second chance, remember!”

“That ain't fair, Yance!”

“Hah! Sure it is! I'd like to stay alive, wouldn't you?”

“You're overreacting!”

“ _Never again_ , Raleigh...!”

“ _Ugh_...! _Fine_...!”

“ _Thank you_ ,” Yancy says as he assesses the damage in the oven. “And no funny business like trying to impress me with your cooking skills while I'm asleep either. I'd like very much not to burn to a crisp in my sleep, thanks. _Lord Almighty_ , would you look at the state of things inside of this oven...!”

“I'll pay for a replacement...!” Raleigh offers.

Yancy groans in exasperation and shakes his head at his brother. He can't seem to help smiling a little bit though, despite the situation.

“Not the point, Rals...” Yancy says, a hint of affection in his tone, all the same. “Seriously not the point...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...because this may or may not be based on true events that have happened in my own life. LOLOL. XDDD


	22. In Battle, Side-by-side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tossed in a little something for my not-logged in commenter, Lizzy.......I _think_ you'll like it...? Maybe???? Lolol. :D

They're testing out a new gaming system created by one of Raleigh's college friends, Newton Geiszler, and that friend's best friend, Hermann Gottlieb. The system is called The Drivesuit G1—the 'G' taken from the first initial of their shared last names, according to Hermann. Newton, on the other hand, claims that it stands for _genius_. The '1,' of course, just means the device is the first of its kind; an unreleased prototype.

It's an interesting piece of technology; quite revolutionary. Inspired by the fictional technology of the film, _Pacific Rim_ , the controllers players use to control their characters in the game are designed similarly to the Pons devices featured in the film. For once, it doesn't take much convincing on Raleigh's part to get his older brother to do this with him; after all, Yancy does enjoy playing video games.

Right now, they're in the middle of a war against fictional creatures called Kaiju as a pair of Jaeger pilots, just like in the movie. The whole thing reminds Yancy of the time he and Raleigh dressed up as the brothers from the movie at Jaeger Con.

“ _Seriously_ , Rals,” Yancy says as he fires a beam from his Plasmacaster at an oncoming Kaiju beast. “Not that I'm really complaining, because this is actually pretty damn cool...but where in the hell do you _meet_ these people?!”

Raleigh laughs and helps Yancy blast another Kaiju out of their path. “I told you! College!”

Yancy snorts. “Yeah. Right. I've got no doubt in my mind that that's barely even a _fraction_ of the whole story.”

“Think what you want...!” Raleigh says with a grin. “Whoa! Heads up! Big, ugly one coming our way!”

“Yeah, yeah, I see it,” Yancy says with a nod as he and his brother lift their hands at the same time to intercept the Kaiju charging at them. “Shit...! This feels so real! How did they make something like this?”

“I don't know,” Raleigh says, and Yancy swears he can feel the younger man's mental shrug. “Pretty neat though, isn't it?”

Yancy nods. “Yeah, I'll say!”

Apparently, this last Kaiju is the big boss of the demo. After they kill it, everything around them goes pitch black and a green, digital display appears before them flashing a farewell message announcing that they've reached the end of the demo and thanks them for playing.

Minutes later, both men experience a sensation of being thrown forward and all of a sudden they find themselves back in reality, feeling the warmed state of the device covering their eyes. The brothers simultaneously remove their headgear and of course the first sight they're greeted with is Raleigh's ecstatic friend.

“Well? Well?!” Newton says, quickly looking back and forth between the brothers. “How was it? What do you think? Any questions? Comments? Concerns? Suggestions?!”

“For heaven's sake, Newt! Would it kill you to give your friends a minute?” Hermann says, a disapproving look on his face. “This is very new technology. They may be experiencing side effects.”

Yancy shakes his head. “Nah, it's all right. Did find myself wondering about a couple things though.”

“Yes, of course,” Hermann says with a nod. “What would those be?”

“Well, my brother and I noticed there's no real way to exit the game,” Yancy says.

Raleigh nods. “Yeah. It's awesome that the game's got this total immersion thing going on and all, but a lot of the traditional aspects of gaming were lost. Like where were the menus? How do you access them?”

“Oh! Well that's easy!” Newton says with a big smile on his face. “There isn't any! The game doesn't stop until you've completed it in its entirety!”

“ _What?!_ ” Yancy and Hermann blurt out at the same time.

Newton cowers a little when Hermann turns on him. “You told me it would only be like that for the demo!”

Yancy frowns. “Yeah! That's a _terrible_ idea, man! What if people want to get out or get tired of playing? People need to eat too, and sleep!”

“He's right!” says Hermann. “Trapping players in the game is not at all healthy. Even regular gamers who play on traditional consoles are always reminded to take breaks and mind their health.”

“W-well, I...I...I just thought it would be more interesting that way, you know?” Newton says weakly. “Aren't people always trying to escape into another world?”

“That isn't the point, is it!” Hermann exclaims, shaking his head. “Think about how many hours people could be stuck in the game! You could cause some serious mental and physical trauma! For all the intelligence you possess, my dear friend, it never ceases to amaze me how you seem to lack the same amount of common sense!”

“B-but...!”

Newton doesn't get a chance to finish his response. Hermann grabs him by the ear and starts dragging him away. The slightly shorter man winces.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...!”

Hermann casts the brothers an apologetic look. “I'm afraid we're going to have to be back in a moment...sorry...”

“Oh...uh...sure...!” Yancy says.

Both brothers blink. Raleigh's friends climb up some stairs and are gone, leaving him and Yancy alone in the laboratory, which is really the basement of Newton's parent's house. Raleigh looks at his brother and gives him a small smile.

“So...uh...what else were you going to ask them?” Raleigh asks.

Yancy rubs at the back of his neck. “...hm?”

“You know,” says Raleigh. “You mentioned wanting to ask them a couple of things regarding the game we just played...but I only heard you ask them one. What was the other thing? Was there another thing?”

“Oh. Ah. Yeah,” Yancy says with a nod. “There was, but...when I think about it, I guess it's possible I'm just imagining things though.”

“What is it?” Raleigh asks, tilting his head to the side. “Mind telling me?”

Yancy chuckles. “Why? You curious?”

Raleigh smiles and shrugs. “Will you tell me if I say 'yes'?”

Yancy smiles back. “ _May_ be.”

Raleigh laughs. “Then _yes_...!”

“Eh, well like I said, it probably really isn't anything,” Yancy says. “Couldn't help wondering if something was a side effect though.”

“What do you mean?” Raleigh asks.

He looks at his older brother curiously when Yancy gives him an intense stare. Raleigh's brows furrow together in confusion.

“Uh...Yancy...?”

“ _Know what I'm thinking, kid?”_ Yancy asks his brother internally.

When he doesn't get a reply, telepathically or otherwise, Yancy just shakes his head. Raleigh appears even more confused.

“Yancy...?”

“Huh. Guess not,” Yancy says.

“What?”

“Nothing, kid,” Yancy says. “Never mind.”

“Er...okay...”

Yancy jabs a thumb in the direction leading out of the makeshift lab. “Doesn't look like those guys are going to be coming back for a while. Want to head home?”

Raleigh shrugs. “Yeah, sure.”

It's while they're both climbing up the stairs when Yancy hears it. His brother's voice, muttering to himself quite clearly in the older man's thoughts.

“ _No way in hell I'm going to tell him I thought I heard him talking inside my head just now...I mean, that's just crazy...right? That's probably not even the 'side effect' he was talking about, anyway."_

Yancy abruptly stops in his tracks. Raleigh stops too and looks at his brother questioningly. Then his eyes widen.

“ _No way...”_ Raleigh thinks.

“ _Way_...” Yancy says aloud. “At least...I think so...?”

Raleigh smiles like a kid who just won the candy lottery. “ _Whoa_...”

“Yeah, that's what I'm saying,” Yancy says with a nod. “Wonder how long this'll last?”

“Who knows!” says Raleigh. “Kind of cool, though...game felt pretty real while we were playing it, too.”

Yancy nods. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Huh. Think we should tell 'em?”

Raleigh grins broadly. “ _Dude_...! _Hell yes_...! Newt's going fucking flip out over this! Come on! Let's go find them!”

Yancy laughs and follows his brother as he navigates them through his friend's house. He can't help but smirk at the next thought that crosses his mind.

“ _Something tells me he's not the only one who's going to flip his shit...!”_


	23. Arguing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my darling SublimeDiscordance~~ Probably not quite what you were hoping for _exactly_ , but I did try!! XD

It seems like their first serious fight in _forever_. In fact, when Yancy thinks about it, he honestly can't recall the last time he and his brother have argued over something this badly. After all, the two of them are usually able to settle their differences rather quickly. 

He's chasing after Raleigh, who's storming away from him in their house, up the stairs and into their room. Raleigh slams the door and his older brother hears the unmistakable sound of a lock clicking into place. Yancy sighs, not even bothering to jiggle the doorknob, because it will only confirm what he already knows. 

“Come on, kid...! This is ridiculous!” Yancy groans, letting his forehead thump against the closed bedroom door. 

If he were a removed third-party, he might have found his brother's whiny response to be amusing. “Oh _really_ , now? Is it, Yance...? _Is it_...?!” 

Yancy lets out another sigh. “ _Yes_...! It _is_...! I don't even think of the kid like that!” 

“Right! Which is why you were acting _so totally familiar_ with him...!” Raleigh huffs. 

“Oh my God!” Yancy groans again. “Raleigh! I _told you_...! He's—” 

“...the son of your boss's friend, who also happens to work in the same department with you. Yeah. _I know_ , Yance,” Raleigh scoffs. “You only told me that like a million times while you were driving us back home from that party.” 

“It wasn't a _party_ , Rals,” says Yancy. “It was a business _networking event_.” 

“There was champagne, and people were dressed up!” Raleigh quips back. “It was a _party_...!” 

“Augh!” Yancy growls in frustration as he pushes away from the door and scratches at the back of his head out of irritation. “Fine! Whatever! Regardless, I was just making small talk!” 

“You winked at him!” 

“After I had cracked a joke!” Yancy exclaims. “You weren't even around to hear what we were talking about! You were on the other side of the room!” 

“...and that was the perfect time to 'crack' your little joke now, wasn't it?” Raleigh sniffs. 

Yancy sighs. “I wasn't flirting, Rals...” 

“Hmph. Whatever...” Raleigh says, beginning to sound a little less angry, but still quite miffed. “The kid blushed.” 

Yancy resists the urge to snort at his younger brother's use of the word 'kid.' He shakes his head. 

“I was teasing him.” 

He can almost imagine his brother childishly waggling an accusatory finger. “ _Flirting_...!” 

“... _a_ _fter_ he had made some snide remark to his father about the 'old man' not possibly being able to keep up with him,” says Yancy. “That's when I told him that I begged to differ; that I thought the old man looked to be keeping up with him just fine.” 

He half-smiles when his brother falls silent on the other side of the door. He can imagine Raleigh trying to fit together a few pieces of a puzzle in his head. 

“Sorry... _what_...?” the younger man finally asks. 

Yancy chuckles. “Those two are an _item_ , Raleigh.” 

Silence. Yancy's lips curl slightly upward at the corners. 

Then, “ _Get out_.” 

Yancy smirks. “Already on the wrong side of the door, kid.” 

Raleigh snorts. “No! Ugh! _Yancy!_ You _know_ what I mean right now! I'm talking about _them_...the...what did you say their names were again?” 

“Hercules and Chuck Hansen,” Yancy replies. “We just call the big man 'Herc,' though. Fitting name, really.” 

“Hey! Don't try to steer away from the subject!” Raleigh says, and Yancy is almost _sure_ that the other man is grinning a little right now, despite himself. “Aren't they like...father and son?” 

“They aren't _like_ father and son, Raleigh,” Yancy says. “They _are_. Father and son, I mean. Together, too, but I already said that.” 

“Oh my God!” Raleigh says. “No way!” 

“Way.” 

“...they're _banging_ each other?!” 

Yancy laughs. “C'mon, Rals. Don't act so scandalized! It's not really anything unlike what you and I are doing...” 

“Well, _yeah_...” Raleigh agrees, “but...how come you couldn't have told me that _sooner?_ ” 

“You never even gave me a chance!” Yancy says in an exasperated tone. “You got all hot, just like you did at Kyle's friend's wedding. I mean, I know that was ages ago now, but you remember how you acted that time, right? Don't you, Rals?” 

Raleigh doesn't say anything at first. Yancy sighs. 

“ _Raleigh_...” 

“...ry...” 

Yancy brows scrunch together. He turns his head so that his ear's closer to the door and he strains to hear. 

“What? Sorry, Rals...I didn't catch that,” Yancy says. “Mind repeating that, kiddo...?” 

He hears his brother's muffled mumbling through the door. “...I said m' _sorry_ , Yancy...” 

The older man takes a step back and blinks. He doesn't know how to respond at first. Finally, he just settles for a monosyllabic word. 

“ _Oh_.” 

Slowly, the door swings open. The younger man's got a sheepish expression on his face. The best Raleigh can manage to give his brother is the barest of smiles. 

“....let me make it up to you, Yance?” 

His older brother resists the urge to laugh and break the mood. He really wants to though; Raleigh had said his words so sweetly, as if in hopes it would appease any anger the older man might have. Raleigh really should know better though, Yancy muses. He really is incapable of being upset with Raleigh for pretty much any prolonged period of time. 

Yancy smiles at his brother and shrugs a shoulder. He supposes it's safe now to be a little playful. 

“Depends on what you're offering to do, kid,” he teases. 

Thankfully, he's right. Raleigh smiles back. He reaches out for his brother and pulls the other man inside the room. 

“ _Actually_...I was thinking more like maybe _you_ would like to _'do'_ me,” Raleigh says in a seductive tone. “What do you think...?” 

Yancy immediately presses his lips together firmly into a thin line and does his best to appear as if he's seriously contemplating the offer to keep himself from laughing out loud when Raleigh gives him a flirtatious wink. Yancy can't tell if the younger man is trying to be serious or ironic, and at the moment, he doesn't want to risk guessing incorrectly. 

Finally, Yancy clears his throat and squares his shoulders. He manages smiling at Raleigh without losing it and gives the younger man a curt nod. 

“Hm...! _Well_...yes! I think...I think that should be fine...!” Yancy says, perhaps a little too formally, but it's mostly because he's still trying his best not to burst into uncontrollable laughter. “I accept your terms...”

Casually, he uses a foot to shut the door behind him. He wraps an arm around the younger man's waist and uses his free hand to bring Raleigh's face in closer to his. Yancy gives the other man a bit of a cheeky grin. 

“Now, let's get started, then, hm?” Yancy says, an impish twinkle in his eyes. “Shall we?


	24. Making Up Afterwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOOOOOO... _many_ apologies if this falls short of expectations. I am terrible with writing sexual intimacy. SIGH. Meh. I am actually trying to convince SublimeDiscordance to just save me and collaborate with me on the very last chapter of this fic. LOLOL. We'll see how that goes. Perhaps I can convince him to write something totally mind-blowing for the last chapter, eh? Lolol. :p Moving on....................

“ _This is different,”_ Raleigh thinks as Yancy guides him towards their shared bed while they kiss. _“Mm...but a **good** different, though...”_

He makes a pleased noise as Yancy pushes him down; Raleigh slowly lifts his legs and wraps them loosely around his brother's torso while raking his fingers down his older brother's back through his dress shirt, just the way he knows the other man likes it. He gets an approving growl from the older man as a reward. Both men have already discarded their suit jackets along the way. Raleigh lets out a soft, happy whine when Yancy nips lightly at his ear. He can feel heat and blood rushing straight to his arousal. The younger man bucks his hips against his brother.

Yancy hasn't said a word since they started making out and, though a bit unusual considering how they usually go about their lovemaking, Raleigh finds that he doesn't mind. In fact, he thinks he feels a bit more turned on than usual. Overtaken by lust, Raleigh doesn't feel the least bit ashamed at how aroused he is, even though he and his brother are still perfectly clothed.

Of course, the minute he thinks _that_ , his brother unbuttons Raleigh's dress shirt and the younger man hisses as Yancy runs his thumbs over hard nipples as he pulls it off his body. Yancy then crushes their lips together for a bruising kiss and Raleigh whimpers while grinding his hips against the older man.

“ _Want you,”_ Raleigh desperately wants to say as he tugs at the hem of his brother's shirt, but doesn't, because he doesn't want to be the first to break the somewhat suspenseful atmosphere.

Thankfully, Yancy has always been pretty good at reading Raleigh's body language. The younger man can't seem to decide whether he finds the smirk that forms on his older brother's face to be charming or infuriating, just before Yancy unbuttons and takes off his own shirt.

“ _Mm... **fuck**...!”_ Raleigh settles for instead when he sees the burning desire clearly reflected in the older man's eyes as Yancy leans forward to capture his lips for another kiss. _“...starting to think I should get pissed off more often...!”_

He makes a little noise of annoyance when the older man pulls away from him again. When Yancy begins to work on his belt buckle, Raleigh quickly reaches his hands out to help him. If only the older man didn't care about the state of his clothes at the end of the day, Raleigh muses, he would have been more than happy to tear them off.

Raleigh likes the way his older brother shudders when he trails his fingers against Yancy's erection through the last layer of fabric standing between them. Yancy tightly grips tufts of sheets on either side of Raleigh's head, eyelids fluttering. He grunts when Raleigh takes hold of his hard-on and rubs himself against Raleigh's hand. Eventually, Raleigh can't take it anymore himself, so he pulls off Yancy's underwear and gasps approvingly at his brother's pulsating erection.

They switch places. Raleigh nudges his brother off him and the older man settles into a seated position on the bed. He automatically threads his fingers through Raleigh's hair when the younger man leans forward and takes the older man's hot length into his mouth. Yancy's eyes become half-lidded and he groans with pleasure while thrusting into Raleigh's mouth.

Once he gets into a comfortable rhythm with his brother, Raleigh reaches for his own belt buckle and begins undoing his pants with one hand while keeping the other planted in the space next to his brother's thigh. It's a bit of annoying task, but with some help from his brother's toes, the pair manage to get the job done.

As soon as Raleigh lifts his head back up, Yancy flips them around again. Raleigh makes a disgruntled noise in protest—clearly he doesn't feel done with servicing his brother just yet—but Yancy shoots him this _look_ that shuts him up right away.

“ _Come on, kid. Don't you want to get this show on the road?”_ the look seems to say.

And _oh_ , Raleigh does. Yancy growls approvingly when the younger man whimpers, expression filled with desire as he slips in a finger. Raleigh tilts his head back, shuts his eyes and whines.

“Ah...! _Ah_...! _Mm_...!"

He lets out a yelp and arches his back in surprise when Yancy envelopes his mouth around his length while still stretching him inside. Raleigh can't help the shivers that course through his body. Finally, he can take no more. He entwines his fingers in his brother's hair and whimpers.

“Yancy, _please_...!” Raleigh grits out. “Fuck me...!”

“Well, _hell_ , Raleigh...!” Yancy says in a low, husky voice. “Thought you'd never ask.”

He is momentarily distracted from his overwhelming feelings of desire when the older man lifts his head and gives Raleigh this _smirk_. Immediately there's one thought that crosses his mind as Raleigh narrows his eyes at his brother.

“ _Oh...you **bastard**...!”_

As if hearing the younger man's thoughts, Yancy chuckles. Still grinning, he cocks his head slightly to one side.

He laughs softly when Raleigh makes a disgruntled noise and he can tell the younger man is trying his hardest not to show pleasure when Yancy adjusts his position so that their faces are now close together. Raleigh whimpers again when Yancy runs his hands under the younger man's thighs and teasingly presses his erection against Raleigh's entrance. He nips at the older man's lower lip in annoyance, because Yancy isn't quick to give the younger man what they both know he wants. Raleigh glares at his older brother when Yancy pulls his head back a little and laughs. Before the younger man can make any more indignant noises or simply verbalize his disapproval, Yancy effectively distracts him by rubbing a hand against Raleigh's arousal. Raleigh lifts his hands upward to grip fistfuls of pillow as he bucks into his older brother's hand, breathing harshly.

“ _Nn_...! _Mm_...!”

He whines when Yancy lets go, but his disappointment doesn't last long. There's a brief pause where they're just staring at each other, panting heavily. Then, Yancy captures his brother's lips for a passionate kiss while easing into the younger man at the same time. The sound that Raleigh emits is a cross between a pleased moan and a scream basically expressing, “ _finally,_ you motherfucker!”

The rhythm is fast and rough. Raleigh's jerking himself with the hand that isn't holding on tightly to whatever he can for an anchor while Yancy pounds into him. They don't know how long they've been at it for, but it ends like dust settling after a whirlwind of activity. Both their bodies are sweaty and sticky. Raleigh can hardly feel when his older brother collapses on top of him and groans—his body is still humming and shivering with the pleasurable aftershocks of their intense lovemaking.

“ _Holy shit...!”_ Raleigh thinks, still trying to catch a hold of his breath; he's still seeing stars.

The older man's still inside of him, but Raleigh doesn't mind. The warmth is starting to subside a little though, and already the younger man is starting to miss it. Raleigh tilts his head and presses against Yancy when he feels the older man nuzzle him.

“Mm... _fuck_....!” Yancy groans, and Raleigh smiles when the older man leans into him more. “I think m'just goin' to take a quick nap like this, Rals...”

Raleigh frowns a little. “What...? _No_...! C'mon, Yance...that's ridiculous...! Get off...! This position's going to get uncomfortable eventually...”

“ _Nngh_...fucking _deal with it_ , kid,” Yancy mumbles back.

Raleigh scrunches his nose. “Yance...!”

He sighs when the response he gets is the older man's soft snoring. If Raleigh had the energy, he might have rolled his eyes. As it stands, Raleigh's eyelids are feeling pretty heavy.

“Ugh...all right, fine... _whatever_...” Raleigh grumbles as he tries his best to squirm into a position that suits him; kind of difficult to do with Yancy's weight and the fact that he's still feeling a bit numb, but the younger man eventually manages.

With a bit more maneuvering, Raleigh manages to pull at least part of the bed covers over their cooling bodies. Throughly spent, it doesn't take much convincing from his inner voice to just succumb to the land of dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ........................this took me two whole days to write. *FACE PALMS* ...............................................
> 
> ..................................................
> 
> ........................................................................
> 
> *Works QUICKLY on the next chapter so that she can leave this one behind FAAAR in the dust* Pronto. Lolol.


	25. Gazing Into Each Others’ Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand here we are!!!! :D *Somehow managed to quickly paddle into this chapter* XDDD ENJOY!!!!!

It happens like a scene straight out of a movie. They're at some formal party thrown by Nathaniel Crawford for his acting buddies. Both Beckets were invited on account of the fact that they were acquaintances of the actor's partner, Ethan Bentley, through Yancy's friend Kyle. The brothers, of course, are natural at mingling, and they are soon swept away by people on opposite sides of the room. 

After finding himself unable to politely excuse himself from the small group he's conversing with, Yancy peeks around a head—while dutifully pretending to listen—and scans the room for his brother. He almost snorts in amusement when he sees that Raleigh has somehow managed to capture the attention of an actor that the older man knows his brother is a huge fan of. Raleigh seems to sense his gaze, and the minute the actor's attention is momentarily diverted, the younger man quickly makes subtle gestures expressing his excitement. Yancy is unable to keep himself from smiling and clears his throat a little before lifting the glass of champagne he's holding to his lips to hide some of it. While he hasn't been paying attention for a while, the tone of the person speaking to him sounds rather serious, and Yancy wants to avoid any potential misunderstandings should a smile not be a socially accepted reaction to whatever the person is saying. 

The brothers cast occasional glances towards each other throughout the night; each time they attempt to inch back to each other, another group of people seem interested in talking to them. Some of them are attracted to their charm; others are more on the pretentious side of things. A few people seem interested in how the two brothers, who appear to be otherwise “ordinary,” somehow managed to attend this “exclusive” event. Initially, both brothers find all this to be very amusing, but as the evening winds down they're both bordering on exasperation. 

At some point, Yancy senses his brother's eyes on him and so he discreetly looks around until he spots the younger man. From the corner of his eye, Yancy can see Raleigh staring at him past the woman who currently believes she has the younger man's complete and undivided attention. 

Yancy half-smiles and lightly shrugs a shoulder helplessly. Raleigh brings a finger up to his nose, leans forward and laughs, eyes closing momentarily as he does so. Fortunately for him, it's the appropriate response to whatever the woman's been talking about, and she seems rather pleased by his reaction. When Raleigh looks back up, he meets his older brother's eyes again and they exchange warm smiles.

It'll be several more minutes before either of them are saved by Ethan or Kyle. Until then, they silently provide each other moral support through secretive glances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully the next chapter leads up to expectations I am probably going to create from this preview-ish blurb, but I am _really_ looking forward to writing the next chapter. XD We'll see if I can't get it out by later this evening! :D (I have a feeling the next bit is going to be a personal favorite of mine in this entire fic~!)


	26. Getting Married

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh...so...SUPER SUGARY SWEET WARNING!!!! Lolol. This actually turned out a LOT more fluffy than I intended so...hopefully this doesn't cause any cavities!! Enjoy~! Can you believe we're almost at the end?

Raleigh can't help it when he laughs. “ _Seriously_ , Jay...the way you're all fidgety right now...you'd think that _you_ were the one getting married today or something.” 

“Shit, I can't help it...!” Jeremy says as he paces about Raleigh's dressing room nervously. “Are you sure you want me to do this...? Don't you think you'd like it better if Kyle were the one walking you down the aisle?” 

“Uh...right here, Jack,” says Kyle, who is indeed in the room and exchanging an amused glance with Raleigh. 

The brunette quickly wills the smile to disappear the minute Jeremy rounds on him. The dark-haired man looks exasperated. 

“Well _do something_ , will you?” Jeremy says, somewhat pleadingly. 

“You know we can't do that, Jack!” Kyle says, eyes sparkling. “Everyone who's here is pretty much expecting you to fulfill your role!” 

“You're going to be _fine_ ,” Raleigh says, trying hard not to double over with laughter. “Really, Jay.” 

Jeremy makes a noise of frustration as he scratches a finger rapidly up and down the back of his head. “Dammit...! I'm going to need a cigarette before all this...” 

Kyle's eyes narrow. He holds up a finger and shakes his head in disapproval.

“No way, Jack,” Kyle says. “It's Raleigh and Yancy's wedding day! Don't you dare think about making Raleigh endure your reeking of smoke while you walk him down that aisle today!” 

Jeremy snorts. “So you'd all rather I be all jittery?”

Raleigh chuckles before Kyle can respond and pats the brunette on the shoulder. “It's all right man. No big deal.” 

“See? He says it's fine!” Jeremy says childishly. 

Kyle's lips almost curl upward at the corners, despite himself. He manages a frown, however. 

“Stop being selfish, Jack. You're a grown ass man,” says Kyle. “You can handle it.” 

Jeremy groans. “Well? What do you suggest I do then, _Kyle_...? I'm about to go crazy over here!”

“Look,” Kyle says, briefly glancing at a clock in the room. “The ceremony doesn't start for about another half hour, right?” 

“Don't need to remind me...!” Jeremy grumbles. “I'm well aware...” 

“Well,” Kyle says. “In the meantime, how about going to check in on Yancy and see how he's doing for a little bit? Meet me back in here in twenty?” 

Raleigh pretends to be very interested in one of his cuffs while he tries not to smile. He doesn't have to look up to know that the dark-haired man is scowling. 

“Yeah, yeah, all right,” Jeremy mutters. “Fine...I'll be right back.” 

With that, the dark-haired man storms out the room and can be heard stomping down the hall, the sounds of his heavy footfalls eventually fading away. Kyle gives Raleigh an apologetic smile. 

“Sorry he's being so difficult,” Kyle says. 

He's surprised, to say the least, when Raleigh finally bursts out into laughter. The brunette tilts his head to the side in confusion. 

“Raleigh...?”

“Oh man...!” Raleigh says, grinning widely. “It's fine, Kyle, really. I mean, _geez_...! When you said Jay's reaction to all this was going to be comical—”

“I definitely did _not_ mean like this,” Kyle says, shaking his head slightly. 

Raleigh just waves a hand dismissively in response. “I'm being serious, Kyle. It's _fine_. Actually, I think it's kind of cute.” 

Kyle's lips twitch at the corners. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Raleigh says affirmatively with a nod. “Dude, though! It's almost a shame that you're not a woman.” 

Kyle scrunches his nose. “What? Why would you say that?” 

“Aw, come on, Kyle!” Raleigh says with a grin. “If this is how Jay is in _this_ situation, can you imagine how antsy he'd probably be if he knew you both had a baby on the way or something?” 

Kyle's lips quiver for a bit before he too finally succumbs to laughter. “Oh God...! You're _right_...! He'd fucking—” 

“Be _completely_ at your mercy!” Raleigh says with a huge smile, eyes twinkling with amusement as he completes the other man's sentence. “Bet you he'd fucking buy all those books on how to be a great dad and read 'em all in secret, and he'd probably burn a hole through his shoes pacing about in the waiting room like he was in here a second ago.”

“Or be smoking up a storm outside the hospital somewhere,” Kyle says, shaking his head. “Which I'd hate...” 

“Dude...! Wouldn't you be more worried about him possibly giving black eyes to whoever is on staff?” Raleigh says before raising the pitch of his voice so that he could do a mock imitation of Jeremy's voice. “What do you _mean_ , 'it's going to take time'? Can't you see me wife's in pain? What do you _mean_ , you 'can't do anything about it,' huh? You're all fucking _doctors_...!  Can't you give her painkillers or something?” 

“Stop...!” Kyle says, slightly bent over and waving the hand not holding his stomach at Raleigh. “No more...! I can't take it...! Too good...!” 

“Anyway...thanks,” Raleigh says, in between short breaths as he tries to calm himself down. 

Kyle shakes his head while trying to do the same. “For what, man?” 

“Because you were absolutely right,” Raleigh says with a smile. “Seeing Jeremy all wound up like he is definitely helps keep my own knees from shaking.”

“Well, we couldn't have you fainting up there at the altar all pale-like now, right?” Kyle says with a wink.  
  
“Yeah, true...” Raleigh says before suddenly getting hit by another wave of laughter. “Oh, man...! What if _Jay_ does? Like on our way up there?” 

“Ugh...! Let's not think about that!” Kyle says, grinning wildly, failing miserably to suppress the thought. 

“You know? Ethan's going to be taping the whole damn thing too, and if he catches a clip of Jay fainting, you _know_ Ethan's not going to let him live that down. Oh, shit...! I'm terrible, I know...!” Raleigh says, wiping at his eyes. “I'd better stop with all the what ifs, man, or my eyes are going to be so red from laughing tears!” 

“Eh, that's all right though, isn't it?” Kyle asks. “I mean it _is_ your wedding day and all. People will just think you're getting all emotional-like.” 

“Yeah, true, but you and I would know exactly why,” Raleigh says, his lips twitching slightly. “Think you'd be able to keep your face straight...?” 

“Uh...maybe if I don't look right at you?” 

Raleigh snorts. “Hah! Yeah. Like that'll happen.” 

The two men laugh together some more. Meanwhile, the atmosphere is decidedly different in the room where Yancy is getting ready. When Jeremy steps in, shortly after knocking, the older blonde is preoccupied with fiddling at his bow tie in front of a mirror for the umpteenth time that day. Jeremy watches from behind for a few seconds before finally clearing his throat. The moment he does, Yancy spots Jeremy in the mirror and then turns around to give the dark-haired man a half-smile. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey,” Jeremy echoes before nodding at Yancy's bow tie. “You nervous, man?” 

“Shit...I guess,” Yancy says with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. “I mean...I don't know, man. I mean, I know this isn't official or anything—it's _just_ the ceremony. Since, I mean...they don't legally recognize gay marriages here. And _fuck_...don't even get me started on the hurdles we'd have to go through even if they did, because Raleigh and I are, biologically speaking, _brothers_...and—” 

He stops when Jeremy folds his arms over his chest and gives him a small smirk before shaking his head. Yancy frowns slightly and shrugs. 

“ _What_...?” 

“Nothing,” Jeremy says, chuckling softly and giving the blonde a small shrug back. “You're _rambling_...” 

“So what?” Yancy asks. “...I'm nervous! So sue me!” 

“ _Hey_...” Jeremy says, suddenly a lot more calm than he was just moments ago. “It's all going to be fine, all right? You and Raleigh are going to meet up at the altar, Nathan's gonna be up there too to do y'all some unofficial officiating, and then before the two of you know it— _bam_...! You both will be married! Well...uh...sort of.” 

The dark-haired man ends his little pep talk with a sheepish smile and Yancy finds himself smiling back at his friend. He nods at Jeremy gratefully. 

“...you're a good man, Jerry,” Yancy says. 

Jeremy scrunches his nose. “Aw, _hell_ no...! Please don't get all mushy gushy on me, all right? You know I don't know how to respond to all that.” 

“Yeah, all right. Sorry,” Yancy says with a laugh. “Say...why are you here, anyhow? Shouldn't you be with Kyle and Raleigh...?”

“What? Oh, _shit_...” Jeremy says after his eyes flit briefly to a clock on the wall to check the time. “Your brother and Kyle wanted me to come in and check on you for a bit, but you're right, I should already be back there by now; Kyle told me twenty minutes.” 

The instant Yancy breaks out into a cheeky grin, Jeremy frowns. Yancy tilts his chin up slightly. 

“You were getting all jumpy too, weren't you?” he asks, a bit smug. 

“ _Man_...! Shut _up_...!” Jeremy grumbles, lightly kicking at the carpeted floor with a foot. “M'tryin' to help you on your big day and here you are, being an ass...” 

“Yeah...all right. You're right. I'm sorry, man,” Yancy says with a laugh. “Thanks, Jerry. I mean it. You really helped me out just now; told me just what I needed to hear.” 

Jeremy brought a finger to his nose and rubbed at it in an attempt to hide the light blush forming across his face. “Yeah, whatever, man...just telling you things as they are...” 

Yancy chuckles and motions Jeremy towards the door. “Go on, man. Don't keep my baby brother waiting.” 

Jeremy nods. “All right. See you in a few minutes.”

“Yeah,” says Yancy. “See you.” 

Jeremy briefly stops at the door, slapping his hand against the frame a few times before turning around. He shakes a lecturing finger at Yancy. 

“Oh, yeah, and I suppose I _should_ say something to you too,” Jeremy says. “Since I'm the acting father today, and all.” 

“ _Hah_...! Yeah, all right. I guess I should have seen this one coming, huh?” Yancy says, shaking his head while chuckling. “Go ahead, man.” 

“You make sure to do right by the kid, or I'll swear to make sure your twins regret it,” Jeremy says. “Got that?”

“Yes, _sir_...!” Yancy says, giving Jeremy a two-finger salute. 

Jeremy smiles. “Good.” 

Minutes later, the ceremony begins. Yancy is waiting expectantly at the altar, and everyone else in the wedding party are in their positions, either up on the stage steps or occupying the pews. 

Raleigh stops several steps before the open sanctuary doors and Jeremy chuckles; the younger man has an iron grip on his arm. Jeremy leans over slightly and whispers into the Raleigh's ear. 

“You all right there, man?” Jeremy asks. “You nervous?” 

The younger man gives him a few short, quick nods. “Yeah, Jay...I am...! I don't know why, either...I mean, I know I shouldn't be...” 

Jeremy laughs softly and pats Raleigh's hand. “ _Well_...! If you don't want to go...nothing says that I _have_ to give you away...I mean, isn't there that 'speak now or forever hold your peace' bit that they're supposed to say at some point or whatever?” 

Raleigh scrunches his nose and smiles. “What? No, that pretty much only happens in movies, Jay! No one really says that in actual wedding ceremonies.” 

The dark-haired man snorts softly and mutters. “Tch. Really? I think they damn well should...! Lord knows that if they did, I sure as hell wouldn't be giving you awa— _huh_...?” 

Jeremy blinks after Raleigh gives him a quick peck on the cheek and laughs. “Thanks, Jay.” 

The dark-haired man's face immediately flushes red. He half-heartedly scowls at Raleigh. 

“Come on, man!” Jeremy says. “What do I keep telling y'all about getting all sentimental on me and shit...?”

“Well, I had to thank you,” Raleigh says with a laugh. “You told me just what I needed to hear to shake off my jitters, after all. Now let's go.” 

He pulls at the older man's arm and turns to look at him with a raised brow when Jeremy doesn't budge. Raleigh looks at him curiously. 

“Uh...Jay?” he asks. “What is it?” 

Jeremy shakes his head and waves one of his hands at the same time. “Aw, _hell_ no. Now we've got to wait another minute.” 

Raleigh doesn't know whether to be confused or amused. “Really...? Why? I'm fine now. They're waiting for us, aren't they?” 

Jeremy nods. “Yeah, but...there ain't no way I'm going out there now while my face is burning all hot like this...!” 

“Wha— _oh_ ,” Raleigh says before laughing a little. “Come on, Jay...! It'll be fine! No one will remember! It's not like it's your wedding day or anything.” 

“Yeah, that's true...sorry,” Jeremy grumbles. 

Both men hear Nathaniel casually clear his throat at the pulpit. _“Um...it seems our other groom may be taking a bit of extra time to get ready...”_

“All right, come on, let's go,” Jeremy says, nudging Raleigh along.

“ _Now_ what's your hurry?” Raleigh asks teasingly, casting the older man an amused glance as they move. 

Jeremy plasters on a smile as soon as they enter the sanctuary and talks just loud enough so Raleigh can hear through his gritted teeth. “Somethin' tellin' me that Kyle was planning on jumpin' for the mic to yell at me in a minute...”

Raleigh manages to contain his laughter as he breaks out into a huge smile. Yancy and Jeremy exchange curt nods before the dark-haired man hands Raleigh over. Yancy leans over and whispers into Raleigh's ear after Jeremy's walked over to take his place beside Kyle. 

“What took you guys so long?” 

Raleigh chuckles softly and tilts his head slightly when he responds. “Jay got cold feet.” 

Yancy laughs.  " _What_...?" 

"Hey, let's not give him a hard time, all right?" Raleigh says, trying his best not to laugh and gently squeezing his older brother's arm.  "Kyle looks like he's seriously about ready to kill him." 

Yancy spares his friends a glance from the corner of his eye and chuckles at the somewhat sheepish expression on Jeremy's face.  Yancy places a hand over Raleigh's and squeezes lightly back.  


"Yeah, all right," he whispers.  


At some point during the start of Nathaniel's speech, Raleigh asks.  "Were you worried?"

“...maybe a little,” Yancy admits quietly. 

“Well, I'm here,” Raleigh says. “I love you, Yance.” 

The older man gives Raleigh's hand another affectionate squeeze. “Love you too, kiddo.” 

They exchange vows and rings. When Nathaniel gives them the verbal cue, Yancy pulls Raleigh in close for a sweet kiss, and a collective cheer rises from their peers. Yancy keeps his hands cupped around Raleigh's face even after they have broken apart. The older man runs his thumbs across Raleigh's cheeks. 

“ _Beautiful_ ,” Yancy whispers. 

Raleigh smiles.


	27. On One of Their Birthdays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So to put it lightly, I've been under the weather for a bit of time now and yes, I'm the stubborn type that refuses to believe I need to actually _see_ anyone about these things. Anyway, needless to say, I am paying for it now. To my future grandchildren (who are not yet in existence), who would have probably insisted just short of a million times to just "go see a doctor," yes. You told me so. Revel in the victory while you can...........BECAUSE I WILL CONQUER ALL AND COME OUT ON TOP IN THE END!! YES!!
> 
> ...this I say all while shaking my fist totally congested and sounding like a frog. Yeah. Ugh. ANYWAY...perhaps that may be why this chapter turned out the way it did. LOLOL.
> 
> Can't believe we're so close to the end! For anyone familiar with the 30-Day OTP prompts, I can honestly say...that I am not quite sure what I can write for it! LOL! I mean sure, I'll eventually come up with something, but...hmMmmMmmMMmm...
> 
> In the meantime, while I chew on all that...hope you all find this entertaining!

On Yancy's thirtieth birthday, the man is nowhere to be found. Initially, Raleigh is amused by this, thinking his brother just doesn't want to be reminded that he's turning the big three-oh. 

What he _doesn't_ expect, is for Yancy to show up later on that evening with his own cake. It's ice cream cake; Raleigh's favorite. The older man pulls it out after they've had dinner. There aren't any candles on it, but there _are_ words etched in icing at the center of the small, round cake. It's the last part that really throws the younger man off. 

Five words, a question mark, and a _ring_ placed underneath the lettering. Raleigh blinks and has to read the cake several times before it all finally sinks in. 

“ _Will you marry me, Rals?”_

When he finally gets over his shock, Raleigh looks up at his brother. Yancy's gaze is hopeful; expectant.

“Well, kid...?” 

“I... _wow_... _yes_ , Yancy...!” Raleigh manages finally, and the older man smiles. “Yes, yes, yes! But...!”

Yancy's finished wiping cake frosting off the ring and has just managed to slide it down to the base of Raleigh's ring finger when the last word the younger man has uttered causes him to look up and frown. 

“But?”

Raleigh shakes his head. “Did you do this on purpose?” 

Yancy tilts his head in confusion. “What? What do you mean? Of course this was done on purpose. I don't think I've ever heard of a proposal happening on accident, do you?”

“No, no, that's not what I meant,” says Raleigh. “I'm talking about today. Did you mean to do this today?” 

“I...yes...?” Yancy says, and the way he says it makes Raleigh laugh, because clearly his older brother has no clue what he's trying to get at. 

“Yancy,” says Raleigh. “Today's your birthday. _I_ should be the one giving you a cake.” 

There's a brief moment of hesitation. Then, Yancy groans. 

“Holy shit...I forgot!” he says. “I was so busy trying to get the whole ring situation figured out.” 

Raleigh laughs. “And here I was, thinking that you were trying to avoid celebrating the fact that you're turning thirty this year.” 

He realizes his mistake as soon as a dark expression appears on his older brother's face. “That can't be right, can it?” 

“Uh...” 

“Just a second,” Yancy says as he mutters some calculations to himself. “It's 2025 now...minus 1995 for the year I was born...carry over one to make— _huh_. Well I'll be...” 

“Um...Yancy?” Raleigh asks as he follows his brother getting up from the table with his eyes. “Where're you going?” 

“To bed.” 

Raleigh gently bites down on the inside of his cheek. “Why?”

“To sulk.”

Raleigh can't help the smile that breaks out this time. “What?” 

“You're right. Why waste the energy to go up the stairs? I'll just go and lie down on the couch.” 

Raleigh chuckles, packs up the cake, and sticks it in the freezer before following his brother out of the kitchen and into the living room. True to his word, Yancy has settled onto the couch longways, arms folded over his chest and with his back turned to Raleigh. The younger man can almost see the raincloud forming over his brother's head. 

“Yancy,” Raleigh says. “This is childish.” 

“Yeah? Well let's have this conversation again in another three years, kid,” Yancy says, sounding miffed. “See if you handle things any differently.” 

Raleigh laughs and settles down onto his knees beside the couch. He leans the top part of his body over Yancy, hugs as much of the older man as he can, and shakes his brother gently. 

“Come on, Yance! It's not that big a deal,” says Raleigh. “You didn't flip out when your quarter-life crisis rolled around! Actually, hell, I don't think you even _had_ a quarter-life crisis.” 

“Of course not! I was still in my twenties then! This is different!” Yancy wails. “I'm old now! Thirty, Raleigh! M'not a spring chicken anymore!  I'm falling apart!” 

Raleigh rolls his eyes.  "Yancy.  You ran three miles yesterday.  I'd hardly call that 'falling apart,' bro."  


"I was twenty-nine yesterday!"  


“Good grief.  All right.  Well, if it makes you feel any better,” Raleigh says with a smile, “I really could care less about your age.”

“Gee, thanks.” 

“No, seriously, Yancy!” says Raleigh. “I'm always going to love you, no matter what. _And_...d'you wanna hear what the best part is?” 

It takes a bit of maneuvering, but Raleigh finally manages to turn his stubborn brother onto his backside on the couch. Raleigh then quickly climbs on top of his brother, straddling the older man, before Yancy can do something like turn over again. 

“All right, fine,” Yancy says with a sigh. “Tell me what the best part is.” 

Raleigh grins and leans forward so that their faces are close together. “ _I_ would still very much like to marry you.” 

He gently taps the tip of his brother's nose, as if to emphasize his point. This seems to cheer Yancy up a little. The older man smiles a bit and runs his hands along Raleigh's sides. 

“Yeah...? You don't mind that I'm on the fast track to getting old and wrinkly?” 

“Oh come on, Yance!” Raleigh says with a laugh. “Stop being so over dramatic, will you? You could be a prune and I'd still love you.”

“...really?” 

Raleigh nods. “Yes, Yancy. _Really_.”

Yancy smiles. “Come here, you.”

Raleigh laughs as Yancy pulls him down closer for a kiss. 


	28. Doing Something Ridiculous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [SublimeDiscordance](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SublimeDiscordance/) and [Ishyko](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ishyko/). Here's a band-aid for you two, my lovelies!! :p

Someone should have remembered to lock the door.  Maybe then, Chuck wouldn't be staring at them with an unreadable expression on his face.  
  
Three things happen.  Yancy immediately flops down into a sitting position on his bed, holds his head in his hands and groans in disbelief at his luck.  Raleigh freezes in place, wearing a deer in headlights expression at first before a small, sheepish grin forms on his face.  Chuck remains where he is, unmoving at first for a few more seconds before he slowly raises an arm, takes hold of the door handle and shuts himself out of the room, leaving the Beckets to their privacy.  
  
Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how one wanted to view the situation—no one other than Chuck had witnessed that awkward moment.  For several days after, Yancy waits for rumors to fly, but nothing really travels through the grapevine.  The only thing that can really be considered out of the ordinary is the fact that now whenever Chuck happens to run into them, the tips of his ears turn bright red and his immediate reaction is to stutter some feeble excuse before power walking away from them at an incredible speed, unable to even look either brother in the eye.    
  
“Hey, it could have been worse, right?” Raleigh says one day, nudging at his brother's side with an elbow.  “Kid could have caught us in the act or something.”  
  
Yancy shakes his head and groans.  “One of us still should have remembered to lock the door, Raleigh.  Hell, _I_ should have remembered to lock the damn door...”  
  
“Well, we do now!” Raleigh says brightly.  “And Chuck always knocks first these days, anyway.”  
  
The older man emits another disgruntled noise.  “Just drop it, kid.”  
  
“Aw, c'mon, Yance!” Raleigh says with a grin.  “We had fun for the most part though, didn't we?”  
  
“I swear that's the last time I'm listening to one of your bright ideas,” Yancy grumbles.  
  
Raleigh laughs.  They both know better.  Yancy will always go along with whatever ridiculous idea Raleigh's got cooking.  
  
Like a lip sync battle to really cheesy pop music.  Something the boys hadn't done since they were kids.  The suggestion had only come up because the brothers had been graciously given the day off to relax, and Raleigh had been rather bored.  
  
Hand Raleigh a day with absolutely nothing to do was asking for trouble.  Giving him access to a laptop with an Internet connection on that same day was a surefire recipe for disaster.  Raleigh had ended up scouring websites hosting user uploaded videos for hours and suddenly became inspired.  
  
Yancy had known he was in trouble the minute he looked up from his reading and his eyes met Raleigh's sparkling ones.  He never should have given in to his brother's puppy dog expression as he gestured towards what was playing on his screen, a video of a small group of friends having fun lip synching to some music.  
  
“ _Please_ , Yance...?” Raleigh had whined.  “We haven't done something like this in _ages_...!”  
  
Yancy had snorted.  There was a reason for that.  He should have said no.  
  
“Doesn't it look like so much fun?!  Just five minutes man...!  What could that hurt, right?  Come on!”  
  
Instead, he had rolled his eyes and closed the book he had been reading, placing it down before dropping from the top bunk with an exasperated smile.  He didn't really have a great track record at denying any of his brother's requests, as silly as some of them were.  
  
“Oh, all right...” Yancy had drawled lazily.  “Just five minutes though, kid.”  
  
Raleigh's gleeful expression should have been a harbinger of what was to come.  If only the older man had thought to view it as such.  
  
“Yeah, okay!  You first, Yance!”  
  
Yancy had been getting pretty into his teeny bopper number when Chuck had unexpectedly opened their door.  Yancy had initially stopped mid-sexy pose.  Raleigh, his impromptu back-up dancer had been partly wrapped around one of the bars of their bunk bed, in lieu of a stripper's pole.  Chuck had blinked at first, partly because he hadn't really expected the door to be unlocked and also because he had pushed against it without thinking.  It's something he often did with his own room, which he shared with his father, so the young pilot had performed the action almost automatically.    
  
Once his brain registered the fact that he had made a mistake, Chuck discovered that he had forgotten why he had come to bother the Beckets in the first place.  His lips might have parted a fraction.    
  
And if anyone was curious as to why the Australian's face was beet red that day as he charged past them down the hall, they would be left to wonder, because no one thought to ask.  It _was_ Chuck, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by [this](http://youtu.be/kNipac9FSDE) video. I just about lost it when I saw this. Especially when Joseph Gordon-Levitt busts out this one move during the part that goes boom-ba-doom and...well...just watch it. LOLOL.


	29. Doing Something Sweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe it?! Chapter 29!! We're almost at the end here! Thanks so much for [SublimeDiscordance](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SublimeDiscordance), [Ishyko](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ishyko), [duneline](http://archiveofourown.org/users/duneline), and [untitled102](http://archiveofourown.org/users/untitled102) for breathing new life into me to write again!! I think I'm starting to get back on track. Oh and uh...shameless plug...SD's written works are _amazing_ , so please support him and check them out!! Be sure to leave lots of love!!
> 
> And the reason why I bring that up especially, is because next chapter there will be an equally AMAZING gift coming up for all you loyal readers!! SublimeDiscordance has agreed to collaborate with me on the next chapter to make something super extra spicy hot for you guys, so that this fic can go out with a BANG!! :D Stay tuned!! It's going to be on it's way, and it's going to be _real!_

  
Raleigh's always the first to wake, and he likes to spend the first few moments of his day quietly appreciating his brother's sleeping face.  During the week, Raleigh always makes sure to not to slip out of bed until an hour before Yancy has to go to work.  The two of them discovered one day, quite by accident, that the most effective alarm clock to rouse Yancy from his slumber was for Raleigh to take away his bodily warmth.  The older man was pretty much guaranteed to wake within the next ten minutes.  
  
For the most part, on weekends, Raleigh is content to lie awake beside his brother for several hours longer than he's used to, just so Yancy can rest longer.  Sometimes, while waiting, Raleigh finds himself taking a short nap or two until around noon, which is when Yancy usually starts stirring.  
  
On one particular day though, Raleigh gets an idea.  He takes great care when slipping out of bed that morning, and tucks the blanket tightly around his brother's sleeping form, in hopes of buying himself a little more time.    
  
It works better than expected.  At the smell of warm food, Yancy's eyes flutter open.  He stares off blankly at first, looking comfortable in his little cocoon; his lips covered by the covers.  When his vision comes into focus, Yancy finds himself looking straight at a tray of steaming breakfast food propped up on a small folding table.  His questioning eyes trail slowly upward to see a smiling Raleigh.    
  
Yancy's brows furrow together slightly before he briefly ducks his head under the covers as he gets ready to stretch.  Groaning softly, he twists about for a few moments before pulling himself up into a sitting position, half his body still covered by the blanket.  Yancy lightly grips part of the covers while using his other hand to rub at one of his eyes.  He then lets out a yawn and scratches at the back of his head as he turns his head towards Raleigh.  The younger man chuckles when he leans part of his body back down on the bed, and Yancy gives his brother a somewhat lazy smile.    
  
Raleigh smiles back warmly at his brother.  “Thought I'd make you breakfast.”  
  
Yancy quirks an amused eyebrow and chuckles.  “Well, I can see that.  Thanks, Rals.  What's the occasion...?”  
  
“Nothing,” Raleigh says with a shrug.  “Just wanted to do something for you.”  
  
Yancy laughs and adjusts his position when Raleigh climbs back into bed with him.  When the younger man reaches out his hands, Yancy meets him halfway and their fingers intertwine.    
  
“So I'm to believe there's no strings attached to this at all?” Yancy asks with a smile.  “It's not your birthday...it's not my birthday...certainly not Christmas...”  
  
He doesn't put up much of a struggle when Raleigh pushes against him and pretty much pulls the younger man closer.  Yancy lets Raleigh's hands go when he feels the younger man trying to extricate them from his hold.  Raleigh then cups his hands around Yancy's face and leans forward to nuzzle their noses together, causing a small and pleasant tingle to run through them both.    
  
“Told you,” Raleigh whispers softly.  “I just wanted to do something for you, Yance.”  
  
The older man chuckles.  “Yeah, all right...okay, kid.  Thanks.”  
  
Raleigh smiles.  “I love you.”  
  
Yancy smiles back.  “Love you too, kiddo.”  
  
The briefest flicker of mischief that glints in the older man's eyes is Raleigh's only warning, and the younger Becket reacts a beat too late.  Before he can escape, Yancy's already pulling him the rest of the way forward.  
  
“W-whoa!  Yancy!  _Wait!_ ”  
  
Raleigh laughs as Yancy flips him on his back and straddles above him, reversing their earlier positions.  “What about breakfast?!”  
  
Yancy cocks his head slightly to one side and gives his little brother a cheeky smirk.   Raleigh's breath hitches when his older brother's hands slide underneath his shirt.  
  
“Y-Yancy...?”  
  
Raleigh isn't exactly sure why he blushes, but if asked, he could probably provide a whole list of reasons.  Yancy gives him a playful wink.    
  
“Thought I'd start with dessert first.”  
  
Raleigh half-heartedly protests.  “You don't even have a sweet tooth!”  
  
Yancy grins.  “Only when it comes to you, kid.”  
  
Soon after, the older man dives in.  Raleigh lets out a surprised yelp that's quickly replaced by pleased moaning.    
  
Yancy happily munches on his reheated meal roughly an hour later, with Raleigh curled up beside him, thoroughly satisfied and completely spent.  The older man grins when Raleigh starts mumbling, his voice somewhat muffled by the pillow his face is buried in.    
  
“ _God_ , I hate you...!”  
  
Yancy chuckles.  “Love you too, Rals.  Breakfast is great.  Thank you.”  
  
Raleigh responds by making a noise.  Yancy laughs and affectionately runs a hand through his younger brother's golden locks.  


**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Держи меня за руку](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1368247) by [Alre_Snow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alre_Snow/pseuds/Alre_Snow)




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